Hackers Force Shutdown of Android Spyware App After Deleting Server Data

The increase in hacking and cyber attacks worldwide is becoming clear. Recently, a major hacking attack has caused major damage to a well-known Android application. Interestingly, this app is actually a spyware with a controversial business model. Known as LetMeSpy, this app has been shut down due to a breach.

Poland-based LetMeSpy announced on its website that it was officially shutting down due to a data breach that wiped out its servers. The announcement, available in both English and Polish, confirms the “permanent shutdown” of the app.

A notice on LetMeSpy’s website reveals that the security breach involved unauthorized access to their database. The attacker downloaded and simultaneously deleted data from the website. As a result, the app now prevents users from logging in or creating new accounts.

LetMeSpy first reported the breach in June of this year. “On June 21, 2023, there was a security breach involving unauthorized access to website user information,” it says on its website.

For those who don’t know, LetMeSpy was an Android phone monitoring app that was purposely designed to stay hidden on a person’s phone’s home screen, making it difficult to detect and remove the app. Once downloaded to a phone, it would constantly monitor that device’s messages, call logs, and real-time location data.

Recently, researchers discovered a new smartphone vulnerability in text messages that allows attackers to track users’ locations. Using a machine learning program for data from the SMS system, the research team uncovered this flaw, allowing hackers to locate victims based on their phone number alone.

According to the report, this method works regardless of whether the communication is encrypted. The vulnerability has been seen in Android operating systems, but there is no evidence of active exploitation yet.

A research team led by Evangelos Bitsikas, a doctoral student at Northeastern University in the United States, uncovered the flaw by applying advanced machine learning software to data collected from a relatively primitive text messaging system that has controlled texting on cell phones since the early 1990s. , Northeastern Global News reported.