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Android emulator abused to introduce malware onto PCs
- joshu 6y agoit's 2021. updating apps should not be something every developer has to write themselves. it should be part of the operating system, separate from the app stores...
- jeffchien 6y agoI'm not entirely sure what you mean by "part of operating system, separate from the app stores", but in this case a server was delivering tainted updates, so having an OS-based update mechanism/package manager by itself wouldn't have prevented this. Unless you also mean that this update should have gone through the OS's repositories (which I feel is close to app store).
- gchamonlive 6y agoA quick search showed compromised packages in arch aur repos: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/malware-found-in-arch-linux-aur-package-repository/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/malware-found... You only change the focal point, but a centralised package manager is good for reasons other than security. Sure, a central tool will keep your whole system updated and improve security overall, but it won't prevent supply-chain attacks from happening. Reading mailing lists and being careful with what you install will take you a long way in preventing malware.
- sergeykish 6y agoI trust packages that comes from official repositories. > Warning: AUR packages are user produced content. These PKGBUILDs are completely unofficial and have not been thoroughly vetted. Any use of the provided files is at your own risk. In other words AUR is not much safer than `curl to | sh`.
- gchamonlive 6y agoSure, but it is centralised in the os distribution package manager, if you use helpers like yay. I am just pointing out that centralisation is not solution to the attack mentioned.
- NullPrefix 6y agoI assume AUR includes hashes, which could at least hint to deterministic builds. `curl to | sh` can change from build to build and there's no way to find out from which source other users built.
- privacyking 6y agoThis is one of the biggest advantages of linux.
- belltaco 6y agoSecurity by obscurity? https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/malware-found-in-arch-linux-aur-package-repository/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/malware-found... Imagine how many more attacks there would be if Linux was much more popular.
- nomad41 6y agoThe AUR isn't officially supported by Arch, it's just a collection of community scripts. In fact "AUR helpers" aren't present in Arch repos.
- Daho0n 6y agoIt is only used in ~80% of some of the most valuable targets on the internet, the servers, and it is only by far the most used operating system with more than 50% compared to the huge target that is the ~15% that is Windows. Security by obscurity is more fitting for Windows than Linux. Imagine how many more attacks there would be if Windows was much more popular. Windows in on par with iOS. Stop being a troll. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste...
- belltaco 6y ago>it is only by far the most used operating system with more than 50% So you're counting Android as Linux, that means Linux has a big malware problem right? Or do you only count Android to pad Linux's numbers and then discount Android malware? Servers are managed by relatively much more tech savvy folks who install programs carefully. Not so much on PCs that aren't locked down like iOS, and where there is developer freedom. iOS is only more secure than Windows at the cost of developer freedom, sad to see people on a techie site praise iOS and insult Windows based on that.
- 6y ago
- pjmlp 6y agoIt is, but then you come to places like HN and everyone is bashing against App Stores.
- numpad0 6y agoThe problem lies in Unix/Windows style app packaging, or lack thereof in Unix as originally conceived. /etc, /usr, and so on.
- midwestemo 6y agoI knew nox has been adware for a while and I'm surprised it's still being used. Literally go to r/noxappplayer and you'll see most of the top posts are about it being malware. If anyone's need a good android emulator, genymotion is probably the best and it's free for personal uses https://www.genymotion.com/fun-zone/ https://www.genymotion.com/fun-zone/
- fireattack 6y ago99% of games I play doesn't run on genymotion, shows "your device isn't compatible with this version". Some say it's because they don't emulate ARM CPUs. Anyway around it? Edit: I tried the ARM translation tool on Android 7.1/8.0, it's better now but still have lots of games don't work. I guess I have to stick with Nox/LDPlayer etc. for now since they just work. Don't know how they achieve it.
- 14 6y agoI would like to know as well.
- vstrava 6y agoI'd suggest trying MSI's app player. It should play everything, but it's not as granular controlled as LDplayer. Based on Bluestacks
- kyriakos 6y agoBluestacks seems to be more aimed at gaming emulation. Genymotion is meant to be used for development.
- acct776 6y agoWhat does "literally" mean here?
- Daho0n 6y agoIt is a way to catch trolls.
- 6y ago
- jeffchien 6y agoESET's article has more details, and also a list of files to check if you happen to use Nox: https://www.welivesecurity.com/2021/02/01/operation-nightscout-supply-chain-attack-online-gaming-asia/ https://www.welivesecurity.com/2021/02/01/operation-nightsco...
- atomicson 6y agoExactly like what I thought. Any connected devices (via USB cable, WiFi, the Internet, etc) can be a (potential) vector (Postulate 1).
- netsharc 6y agoThe article's focus on it being an emulator feels misleading. They compromised an auto-update feature, it can happen to any software that offers updates. Even manual updates.
- kobalsky 6y agoFeels clickbaity. I was interested because this implied they somehow broke outside both Android's sandbox and the emulator's hypervisor but nope, it was way more mundane (but not less severe of course). The magic is in not knowing.
- m-ce 6y agoNox has been known to be adware and there are multiple guides on creating firewall rules so it doesn't phone home or update. I wouldn't be surprised if the developers themselves did this on purpose for monetary gain, if I remember correctly Nox's subreddit hates them already.
- 1024core 6y agoDoesn't Google give out a free Android emulator?
- freeone3000 6y agoIt is incredibly nonperformant. Even with HAXM. Developers use real devices. This is marketed for people who want to run android games on their PC.
- sercand 6y agoI recently tested Android Emulator [1] on Apple M1 computer and it is finally a performant emulator from Google. I can finally use android emulator on my computer for development. [1] https://github.com/google/android-emulator-m1-preview https://github.com/google/android-emulator-m1-preview
- aspyct 6y agoNot to mention testing a mobile app with a mouse is... well, not the intended use case, to say the least.
- maxhille 6y agoAndroid app dev since 10 years here - performance is absolutely fine. I have it running all the time. Granted, performance was abysmal before the accelerated Intel images, but that was many years ago. Devs complaining about Android emulator performance usually have problems with their setup, common culprits: Not enough ram (it is a VM in the end), slow machine (eg. MacOS is bad for Android dev), broken VM acceleration (AMD was a problem for a while IIRC).
- freeone3000 6y agoAccelerated intel images require you to be running an Intel Android install, not ARM like the vast (>95%? 99%?) majority of devices. We had a bug around the byte-size of "long" that only showed up on real hardware.
- pjmlp 6y ago
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