Lebanese Intelligence Turned Targets’ Android Phones Into Spy Devices
The boys in Beirut showing some gumption -
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Lebanon’s internal intelligence agency appears to have been caught spying on thousands of people — including journalists and military personnel — in more than 20 countries, according to researchers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Lookout, a mobile security company.
The spy operation, revealed on Thursday, is among dozens around the world uncovered by human rights groups and technical organizations in recent years as governments and intelligence agencies have started relying more on mobile and desktop spyware than on traditional forms of cloak-and-dagger espionage.
The researchers found what they said was evidence that Lebanon’s intelligence agency — called General Directorate of General Security, or GDGS — spied on their targets’ Android mobile devices and desktop computers using various methods for more than six years. Their primary attack method, researchers said, was through a series of decoy Android apps designed to look like widely used private, secure messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal.
Once downloaded, the apps allowed spies to steal nearly everything off their victims’ phones, including text messages with one-time passcodes for accessing email and other services, as well as contact lists, call logs, browsing history, audio recordings and photos. The apps also let the spies take photos using the phone’s front or back camera, and turned the device into a silent microphone to capture audio. The apps were not designed to target Apple iPhone users.
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