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Android-based smart devices are exponentially growing, and due to the ubiquity of the Internet, these devices are globally connected to the different devices/networks. Its popularity, attractive features, and mobility make malware creator…
There is an increase in global malware threats. To address this, an encryption-type ransomware has been introduced on the Android operating system. The challenges associated with malicious threats in phone use have become a pressing issue…
Nowadays, privacy has become a very serious issue with smart and mobile platforms. Users tend to allow intrusive apps access much sensible information without really knowing the potential threats. To solve this issue several solutions (e.g.…
There are over 1.2 million applications on the Google Play store today with a large number of competing applications for any given use or function. This creates challenges for users in selecting the right application. Moreover, some of the…
With the digital breakthrough, smart phones have become very essential component. Mobile devices are very attractive attack surface for cyber thieves as they hold personal details (accounts, locations, contacts, photos) and have potential…
We report the first active acoustic side-channel attack. Speakers are used to emit human inaudible acoustic signals and the echo is recorded via microphones, turning the acoustic system of a smart phone into a sonar system. The echo signal…
Zero-click attacks require no user interaction and typically exploit zero-day (i.e., unpatched) vulnerabilities in instant chat applications (such as WhatsApp and iMessage) to gain root access to the victim's smartphone and exfiltrate…
With the increasing usage of smartphones a plethora of security solutions are being designed and developed. Many of the security solutions fail to cope with advanced attacks and are not aways properly designed for smartphone platforms.…
Nowadays smartphones come embedded with multiple motion sensors, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope and an orientation sensor. With these sensors, apps can gather more information and therefore provide end users with more functionality.…
Mobile messaging apps are a fundamental communication infrastructure, used by billions of people every day to share information, including sensitive data. Security and Privacy are thus critical concerns for such applications. Although the…
In this work we present definitive evidence, analysis, and (where needed) speculation to answer the questions, (1) Which concrete security measures in mobile devices meaningfully prevent unauthorized access to user data? (2) In what ways…
Android is among the most targeted platform by attackers. While attackers are improving their techniques, traditional solutions based on static and dynamic analysis have been also evolving. In addition to the application code, Android…
Third-party security apps are an integral part of the Android app ecosystem. Many users install them as an extra layer of protection for their devices. There are hundreds of such security apps, both free and paid in Google Play Store and…
We present an add-on for the Android platform, capable of intercepting nearly all interactions between apps or apps with the platform, including arguments of method invocations in a human-readable format. A preliminary performance…
Android is the predominant mobile operating system for the past few years. The prevalence of devices that can be powered by Android magnetized not merely application developers but also malware developers with criminal intention to design…
Nowadays privacy in the connected world is a big user's concern. The ubiquity of mobile devices permits billions of users browse the web at anytime, anywhere. Near Field Communication (NFC) appeared as a seamlessly and simply communication…
New computational devices, in particular wearable devices, offer the unique property of always being available and thus to be able to constantly update the user with information, such as by notifications. While research has been done in…
As smartphones become increasingly more powerful, a new generation of highly interactive user-centric mobile apps emerge to make user's life simpler and more productive. Mobile phones applications have to sustain limited resource…
The pervasiveness of the Android operating system, with the availability of applications almost for everything, is readily accessible in the official Google play store or a dozen alternative third-party markets. Additionally, the vital role…
When users leave their mobile devices unattended, or let others use them momentarily, they are susceptible to privacy breaches. Existing technological defenses, such as unlock authentication or account switching, have proven to be…