Researchers found a flaw in Android phones that let hackers record and save pictures and video

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You can file this one in the “Oh god, why?” folder.

A newly published blog post from cybersecurity company Checkmarx uncovered a rather…scary flaw in the Android operating system. The company found that the camera apps on the Google Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, and various other Android phones have a serious lack of user safety.

After a detailed analysis of the Google Camera app, our team found that by manipulating specific actions and intents, an attacker can control the app to take photos and/or record videos through a rogue application that has no permissions to do so.

To add to this, Checkmarx found something even more frightening; a cybercriminal could easily store this information on an external server, again, without the target knowing.

Checkmarx found that hackers can use the camera app on Android phones for malicious purposes

This is a generally scary thing that could happen to someone. But, Ars Technica reports that the “skill and luck” of someone to successfully pull this off “isn’t likely to be used against the vast majority of Android users.”

And Google is aware of this issue. In the report, Checkmarx does indicate that they have spoken to Google about this flaw and published Google’s responses to these concerns. An unnamed spokesperson has reassured any and all users that “a patch was made available through the Play Store”.

They didn’t detail what the patch does, but one can figure out that it helps prevent these hacks. The report confirms this and, at the end of it, says the general best practice against these is to keep your software and apps up-to-date.

What do you think? Surprised that such a flaw was found on Android phones? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Colin Barry

I like honey roasted peanuts because they are delicious. I also like the Metal Slug games and X-Men comics because they are awesome.