Monday, 23 February 2015, PALO ALTO, CA - A team of three researchers from the Stanford University Computer Science Department along with a colleague from Rafael Ltd. have written a paper describing their creation of what they call a "malicious" app which can track the location of an android phone user using only battery power consumption data which varies with distance and obstacles between the android phone and a cellular tower while discounting all other unneeded consumption information "noise" with an algorithm that through "machine learning" takes into account power uses such as conversations and listening to music or using social media and eliminates them from the location equation (the "Paper") BBC Technology News reports.
"The "malicious" app has neither permission to access the GPS nor other location providers (eg cellular or wifi network) the team reportedly wrote in the Paper to which a link is provided in the BBC Technology News article linked to below for readers interested in more information. The malicious person locator app requires only permission for network connectivity and access to the power data which the team reports are so commonly requested for apps as not to arouse suspicion of "victims" be they of criminal government spy organizations such as just for example the NSA, CIA, and GCHQ, presumably as well as ordinary civilian criminals, stalkers, law enforcement and all manner of privacy invaders and persons posing threats to personal safety.
The team reports that the above are "very common permissions" for example currently requested by 179 apps available on Android app store Google Play. A cyber security expert notes that with smartphones so "stuffed with sensors" that users often already forget about others being able to track them and that with this latest discovery that merely power data can be used also to track these unwary android phone users that "[w]e are approaching the point where the only safe way to use your phone is to pull the battery out - and not all phones let you do that". As mentioned above interested readers will find the direct link to the full BBC Technology News article below which article in its body provides a link to the research team's Paper and after the article's conclusion provides links to at least four more BBC Technology News articles warning on cyber security issues including technology privacy invasion and cheap spyware dangers.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31587621
Copyright 2015 Martin P. All World Rights Expressly Reserved
"The "malicious" app has neither permission to access the GPS nor other location providers (eg cellular or wifi network) the team reportedly wrote in the Paper to which a link is provided in the BBC Technology News article linked to below for readers interested in more information. The malicious person locator app requires only permission for network connectivity and access to the power data which the team reports are so commonly requested for apps as not to arouse suspicion of "victims" be they of criminal government spy organizations such as just for example the NSA, CIA, and GCHQ, presumably as well as ordinary civilian criminals, stalkers, law enforcement and all manner of privacy invaders and persons posing threats to personal safety.
The team reports that the above are "very common permissions" for example currently requested by 179 apps available on Android app store Google Play. A cyber security expert notes that with smartphones so "stuffed with sensors" that users often already forget about others being able to track them and that with this latest discovery that merely power data can be used also to track these unwary android phone users that "[w]e are approaching the point where the only safe way to use your phone is to pull the battery out - and not all phones let you do that". As mentioned above interested readers will find the direct link to the full BBC Technology News article below which article in its body provides a link to the research team's Paper and after the article's conclusion provides links to at least four more BBC Technology News articles warning on cyber security issues including technology privacy invasion and cheap spyware dangers.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31587621
Copyright 2015 Martin P. All World Rights Expressly Reserved
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