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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

U.S. Govt. Apps Bundled Russian Code With Ties to Mobile Malware Developer

Summary: Reuters reported that U.S. Army and CDC mobile apps integrated Pushwoosh software that sends visitor data to a company claiming to be U.S.-based but operated from Novosibirsk, Russia; the Army removed its app in March over security concerns and the CDC removed the code after reporters informed it of the company's real location. Pushwoosh founder Max Konev said the company has no connection to the Russian government and stores data in the U.S. and Germany, while Reuters found the company's California address does not exist, two of its Washington, D.C. LinkedIn accounts were fake, and it never disclosed its Russian base in eight Delaware filings.

Key Takeaway: One of Pushwoosh's longtime developers, Yuri Shmakov, acknowledged in 2013 that he wrote the Pincer Android Trojan, which intercepted and forwarded text messages, and researcher Zach Edwards found the Army app at Fort Irwin carried a custom Pushwoosh setup that existed nowhere else, sending data out whenever users clicked links.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

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