Technology giant Google said an Italian provider used “a combination of tactics, including car downloads” to target both iOS and Android mobile users in Italy and Kazakhstan.
The report says that RCS Lab has developed tools for spying on devices. Google said it had previously witnessed a hearing in the European Parliament on “high technology and spyware” for the work it has done to “monitor and disrupt a thriving industry.”
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RCS Lab said it complied with European Union requirements and would help investigate cybercrime.
Google says it has taken steps to protect the Android operating system. The development comes amid Israeli NGO Pegasus spyware, which is said to target journalists, activists and dissidents.
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Google said spyware is spreading by making people click on links in messages. “After clicking, the page tried to force the user to download and install a malicious application on Android or iOS,” it said.
“In some cases, it worked with the target’s ISP to disable the target’s mobile data connection,” Google said, adding, “Once disabled, the attacker will send a malicious connection via SMS asking the target to install an application to to reconnect to data. “
“Google’s Threat Analysis Team tracks more than 30 vendors with varying levels of complexity, selling exploits or monitoring capabilities to government-backed participants,” it said.
(Contributed by agencies)
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