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Hack attack: Apps can spy on other apps

Researchers reveal a flaw in Android, iOS and Windows that lets hackers peer into Gmail, Chase and other apps. Also, Norton reduces its software line to one product, and Pebble gets score alerts with the ESPN app.

Bridget Carey Principal Video Producer
Bridget Carey is an award-winning reporter who helps you level-up your life -- while having a good time geeking out. Her exclusive CNET videos get you behind the scenes as she covers new trends, experiences and quirky gadgets. Her weekly video show, "One More Thing," explores what's new in the world of Apple and what's to come. She started as a reporter at The Miami Herald with syndicated newspaper columns for product reviews and social media advice. Now she's a mom who also stays on top of toy industry trends and robots. (Kids love robots.)
Expertise Consumer technology, Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, social media, mobile, robots, future tech, immersive technology, toys, culture Credentials
  • Bridget has spent over 18 years as a consumer tech reporter, hosting daily tech news shows and writing syndicated newspaper columns. She's often a guest on national radio and television stations, including ABC, CBS, CNBC and NBC.
Bridget Carey

There's a sneaky new security threat to smartphones: apps that spy on the data from other apps. Security researchers found that a malicious app can disguise itself as something harmless, like a wallpaper app, but run in the background to record what the user is doing in other apps. Watch this episode of CNET Update to learn how researchers were able to see the social security number typed into the H&R Block app, and steal the check images taken by the Chase banking app.

These malicious apps don't require special permissions to tap into the device's shared memory, so it can be hard to detect this scam:

Watch this: Hack attack: Apps can spy on other apps

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