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Samsung Galaxy Hack: SwiftKey keyboard vulnerability puts phones in danger

News
June 18
by chris eilers

This can be a bad news for Samsung smartphone users since hackers now can break into Samsung Galaxy phones and do things such as remotely monitoring them, installing malware, stealing personal data, etc.

swiftkey

According to NowSecure – a security firm, a vulnerability in the keyboard software on the devices is the main way for the hackers to get into the phones, look through their camera, listen to the microphone and read messages. Reportedly, over 600 million people using Samsung mobile with SwiftKey keyboard pre-loaded have been left exposed to a serious security risk.

samsung

 

Actually, NowSecure did inform the Korean tech-giant Samsung of the vulnerability in November, 2014. Then, Samsung gave a patch to mobile operators across the world. Nonetheless, there are still millions of Samsung handsets with SwiftKey vulnerable to this problem. The list of affected machines includes Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Mini, yet NowSecure cautions that it is not an all-inclusive list, so be careful! Unfortunately, you cannot uninstall SwiftKey from the Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones because the app is deemed to be native.

Samsung Galaxy hack

On the other hand, we are glad to note that the pre-installed SwiftKey app from Google Play Store or Apple iOS Store is totally fine, containing no vulnerability.

Until Samsung releases solution to fix the problem, there is very few thing that the users can do but stay off unsecured wi-fi networks or use Google Keyboard or any other third party keyboard in the mean time.

In conclusion, many Samsung mobiles are vulnerable to security due to SwifKey keyboard and the manufacturer is finding a way to solve that. So, stay awake! No one wants hackers to know everything about their lives or invade their privacy.