A coalition of governments has released a list of Android apps that looked legitimate but actually contained spyware. It was used to target civil society members critical of China’s policies. About this informs TechCrunch.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), in collaboration with the governments of Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the US, has issued warnings about two families of spyware — BadBazaar and Moonshine.
These applications disguised themselves as normal Android applications, but actually acted as “trojans”, providing access to cameras, microphones, personal chats, photos and geolocation data. According to the NCSC, the programs have been used to monitor Uyghurs, Tibetans, Taiwanese and activists who engage in topics the Chinese government considers threatening.
These apps were specifically targeted at users related to Taiwan independence, Tibetan rights, democracy initiatives, and the Falun Gong movement. To cover up, they imitated the appearance of well-known applications such as Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, as well as religious mobile applications – Muslim and Buddhist prayer books.
The published list includes more than 100 Android applications, including the popular Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader program. The report also mentions the TibetOne iOS app, which was available on the Apple App Store in 2021.
