Your Personal Data Can Be Hacked Via The Vulnerability On Google Browser

Researchers from Positive Technologies have recently found out a new vulnerability in Google browser Chromium, which allows hackers to steal users’ personal data. Sergey Toshin as one of these researchers first detected the bug in December 2018 and revealed it to the tech giant Google in January 2019.

Only after a few weeks, the company provided a patch for users to fix the bug. Although no sign concerning the active exploitation of the vulnerability was discovered, we can’t ensure 100% that this didn’t happen.

In January 2019, Google disclosed the bug in its patch notes, which was depicted as a vulnerability that lacked sufficient policy enforcement. According to the recent Positive Technologies report, the bug aimed to affect the WebView component on Android smartphones, which is designed to display all pages in applications. In other words, it worked inside the Chromium engine of Google and could be found in every version of Android, from version 4.4 to higher.

To make use of the vulnerability, hackers just needed to use a dangerous instant app to connect with users, and then, the app would run a file to approach the hardware of users’ smartphones. And it’s time for hackers to catch a chance to steal users’ personal data.

For those who are using Android 7.0 or higher, they should update the new browser version for their existing Google Chrome in January 2019. The others who are running the previous versions of Android OS need to install the new version of WebView available on Google Play. If you don’t have Google Play installed on your devices, you should wait for the smartphone manufacturer to release an update.