Smartphone malware targeting Pakistani officials: report – World

A security company says that fake smartphone applications loaded with malware are aimed at the army and the government of Pakistan.

A report published Wednesday by the Canadian company Blackberry identifies new spy campaigns that attempt to steal sensitive data from mobile devices.

Blackberry says he doesn't know who is responsible for the campaigns, but says he probably involves state-sponsored piracy groups.

The report says that one of the fake applications promised news about Kashmir. India imposed a security shutdown in August in occupied Kashmir, arresting thousands and cutting off telecommunications for days.

Read: Internet shutdown fueled the battle of fake Kashmir news in South Asia

Other fake applications imitated a pornography website, a dating chat service and a disaster relief organization, the Ansar Foundation.

Applications often used Google’s Android operating system and were distributed via email or social media messaging services such as WhatsApp.

Blackberry, a former mobile phone giant that has now moved into the security business, says the campaigns reflect a global trend of hackers targeting mobile devices because people use them for work and in their personal lives.

"I don't think we've seen examples in which they were targeting specific individuals," said Brian Robison of the company. "It was more a stroke."

The Blackberry report also describes the ongoing malware campaigns for smartphones in other parts of the world in which hackers appear to be acting in the interest of the Chinese, Iranian, Vietnamese and North Korean governments. A common thread among the different campaigns: they intertwine mobile malware in more conventional strategies aimed at desktop computers.

Robison said many people have been falsely tricked into thinking that their phones are more reliable.
"We rely heavily on public application stores to try to keep us safe," he said.