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Check Point Software Technologies today revealed a data breach that’s hit an estimated 1 million Google accounts around the world.
Nicknamed ‘Gooligan,’ this new variant of malware has reportedly been targeted at the nearly three-quarters of devices worldwide that run Android 4 (Jelly Bean, KitKat) and 5 (Lollipop).
Here’s what you need to know about Gooligan…
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Some 1 million accounts are believed to have been hit, according to Check Point. The breach has been happening at a rate of 13,000 devices a day since August.
In short, Gooligan steals email accounts and authentication tokens.
Authentication tokens bypass two-factor authentication and make Google think you as a user are already logged in.
Then the hackers can have a field day with access to your Gmail, Google Play, Google Photos, Google Drive, Google Docs and G Suite.
Check Point has set up a free Gooligan Checker tool that lets you enter your email to find out if you’ve been hacked. Check Point says it will not collect, store or use your email address for any purpose other than determining if you’ve been breached or not.
1. Go to your carrier and ask that your device be ‘re-flashed.’ This process will do a clean install of your operating system.
2. Immediately change your Google account passwords.
Check Point says the following apps from third-party Android app stores are the likeliest culprits:
“We’re appreciative of both Check Point’s research and their partnership as we’ve worked together to understand these issues,” said Adrian Ludwig, Google’s director of Android security. “As part of our ongoing efforts…we’ve taken numerous steps to protect our users and improve the security of the Android ecosystem overall.”
You can read more in Ludwig’s new blog post here.
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This post was last modified on February 21, 2019 4:44 pm
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