You probably don’t know just how dangerous it is to access mobile applications on your smartphone, send SMS messages or sign into Wi-Fi hotspots and stealing of personal information is only one threatening aspect here. Researchers at Syracuse University say that mobile apps are facing a new type of attack and we may not even realize this.
What if someone told that you using your device to send text messages, execute Bluetooth pairing, log into a free Wi-Fi hotspot, listen to music, scan barcodes and even watch MP4 videos could lead to mischief makers stealing your private data? Some of these potentially ‘dangerous’ activities we carry out on smartphones are the ones we’re so used to doing, they don’t even strike us as risky.
HTML5 is the latest HTML standard which developers use to create web content and it’s finding increasing popularity among mobile app creators nowadays. Apparently, it is fairly simple to push malicious code into such programs, which is why Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks are so widespread on the internet.
According to the research paper we’re referring to, this is said to be an issue that will blow up to mighty proportions unless something is done about it. Apps based on HTML5 put mobile platforms in danger and the victim with the infected phone can pass on the virtual worm to their friends’ devices too.
The YouTube video we’ve posted above clearly explains how something as simple as scanning a 2D barcode using an HTML5 mobile application can allow hackers to steal your personal information.