- Jan 21, 2018
- 814
"Last month, we were warned not to install Qatar’s World Cup app because it was spyware. This month, it’s Egypt’s COP27 summit app:
www.schneier.com
"On smartphones running Google's Android software, it has permission to potentially listen into users' conversations via the app, even when the device is in sleep mode, according to the three experts and POLITICO's separate analysis. It can also track people's locations via smartphone's built-in GPS and Wi-Fi technologies, according to two of the analysts.
The app is nothing short of "a surveillance tool that could be weaponized by the Egyptian authorities to track activists, government delegates and anyone attending COP27," said Marwa Fatafta, digital rights lead for the Middle East and North Africa for Access Now, a nonprofit digital rights organization.
"The application is a cyber weapon," said one security expert after reviewing it, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect colleagues attending COP.
“There has been a cybersecurity assessment done. And it refuted that completely,” Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt’s Special Representative to the COP27 President, told reporters on Thursday, in reference to the app’s security threat.
Google said it had reviewed the app and had not found any violations to its app policies.
The potential security risk comes as thousands of high-profile officials descend on Sharm El-Sheikh, the Egyptian resort town, where so-called QR codes, or quasi-bar codes that direct people to download the smartphone application, are dotted around the city."
www.politico.eu
A repressive regime + political and environmental activists = masses of material for speculation and even conspiracy theorists.
Another Event-Related Spyware App - Schneier on Security
www.schneier.com
"On smartphones running Google's Android software, it has permission to potentially listen into users' conversations via the app, even when the device is in sleep mode, according to the three experts and POLITICO's separate analysis. It can also track people's locations via smartphone's built-in GPS and Wi-Fi technologies, according to two of the analysts.
The app is nothing short of "a surveillance tool that could be weaponized by the Egyptian authorities to track activists, government delegates and anyone attending COP27," said Marwa Fatafta, digital rights lead for the Middle East and North Africa for Access Now, a nonprofit digital rights organization.
"The application is a cyber weapon," said one security expert after reviewing it, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect colleagues attending COP.
“There has been a cybersecurity assessment done. And it refuted that completely,” Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt’s Special Representative to the COP27 President, told reporters on Thursday, in reference to the app’s security threat.
Google said it had reviewed the app and had not found any violations to its app policies.
The potential security risk comes as thousands of high-profile officials descend on Sharm El-Sheikh, the Egyptian resort town, where so-called QR codes, or quasi-bar codes that direct people to download the smartphone application, are dotted around the city."
Egypt’s COP27 summit app is a cyber weapon, experts warn
Security officials raise fears over the Egyptian government’s mobile app as POLITICO analysis shows it can listen to private conversations and access encrypted texts.
www.politico.eu
A repressive regime + political and environmental activists = masses of material for speculation and even conspiracy theorists.
