Tag Archive for: Trial

Singapore Android users to be blocked from installing certain unverified apps as part of anti-scam trial

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In a previous update of Google Play Protect, users were recommended to conduct a real-time app scan to better detect whether an Android app may be infected with malware. When the scan was completed, users were notified about whether it could be safely installed. 

Eugene Liderman, director of Android security strategy at Google, told CNA the real-time scanning enhancement to Google Play Protect was fully rolled out in Singapore in November 2023.

Since the launch of real-time scanning last October, Google said it has helped identify over 515,000 potentially harmful apps, and blocked or warned users almost 3.1 million times when they attempted to install such apps. 

Scam victims are often directed to download an Android package kit (APK) file through sources such as websites, messaging apps or file managers. 

“Members of the public are advised not to download any suspicious APK files on their devices as they may contain malware which will allow scammers to access and take control of the device remotely as well as to steal passwords stored in the device,” the police said in an advisory last July. 

Sideloaded apps typically ask for permission to read and receive SMSes and notifications, and grant accessibility to devices.

These permissions enable scammers to intercept one-time passwords via SMS or from notifications and spy on screen content, said Google.

The tech giant’s newest security feature is designed to look out for such permissions, which are “frequently abused by fraudsters”, and block the app’s installation.

“Based on our analysis of major fraud malware families that exploit these sensitive runtime permissions, we found that over 95 per cent of installations came from internet-sideloading sources,” it added. 

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Pittsburgh Jewish community monitoring hate speech amid trial of synagogue shooting suspect

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The head of security for Pittsburgh’s Jewish community says there has been an “uptick in hate speech” on the internet, but no specific threats, in the early stages of the trial of the man accused of killing 11 worshippers at a synagogue here in 2018.

And Jewish leaders say that while the trial is bringing out the worst of extremists in some dark corners of the web, it’s also brought an outpouring of support from the community — ranging from law enforcement agencies helping with security to local food vendors collaborating to bring meals to victims’ families during the trial.

Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said officials have monitored “general chatter in support of the defendant … and his hateful vitriol” on the internet. The materials “would turn anyone’s stomach,” she said.

Brokos and others spoke Friday at a news conference at the federation’s offices to talk about how the Jewish community has been preparing for the federal trial in the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Jury selection began April 24 and is slated to continue at least into next week, followed by further weeks in which jurors will weigh the defendant’s guilt and potentially a death sentence.

Pittsburgh synagogues and other institutions have received physical improvements in security and have conducted recent training to prepare for security incidents, Brokos said. No threats have been received, but officials are bracing for the possibility that some white-supremacist groups may show up in support of the defendant.

“We’d much rather be in a proactive stance and out in front of any potential threats,” she added.

As the trial moves forward, “we will lean on one another for strength and support, we’ll empower one another to live full Jewish lives, but reinforce to one another that we need to remain continually…

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Alex Murdaugh trial suspended as courthouse evacuated due to security issue

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The South Carolina courthouse where former attorney Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial is taking place was evacuated Wednesday due to a security issue, officials said. 

“A bomb threat was received by Colleton County courthouse personnel,” a spokesperson for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said in a statement.

“The building has been evacuated and SLED along with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the threat,” the statement continued. “No additional information is available from SLED at this time.”

Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman is presiding over the case as Murdaugh’s trial — for an alleged double-homicide that has been widely publicized for years — enters its third week. In a live stream of Wednesday’s proceeding, Newman can be heard calling a sudden recess around 12:30 p.m.

“Ladies and gentleman, we have to evacuate the building at this time,” the judge said. “So, we’ll be in recess until we discover what’s going on.”

Murdaugh, 54, is a disbarred lawyer previously known for his family’s status as prominent legal figures in South Carolina, their home state. He has been accused of shooting and killing his late wife, Margaret, 52, and their son, Paul, 22, in June 2021.

The case has led to a slew of allegations and 100 criminal charges for various alleged financial and legal offenses, including computer crimes, money laundering, forgery and breach of trust with fraudulent intent. Various indictments from prosecutors and a state grand jury allege Murdaugh stole settlement money, as well other funds, from his former clients, supposedly amounting to about $6.2 million. 

In an indictment filed six months after Margaret Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh’s killings, prosecutors also accused Murdaugh of crimes including operating a drug trafficking ring and allegedly attempting to fake his own death in an effort to secure a $10 million life insurance payout for his surviving son, Buster.

Murdaugh has insisted throughout the criminal investigation into his wife and youngest son’s deaths that he did not kill them. The disgraced attorney has said that when he found them shot to death at the family’s hunting estate in Colleton County on the evening of June…

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Russian tech tycoon heads to trial in Boston over alleged insider trading and hacking scheme

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Between 2018 and 2020, prosecutors allege, Klyushin and his co-conspirators viewed the earnings reports of dozens of companies — including Tesla, Hubspot, Datadog, and Snap — before they were made public, and used that information to make stock trades that led to millions of dollars in illegal profits.

“This is sort of like insider trading on steroids,” said attorney Robert Fisher, a former federal prosecutor, adding that insider trading cases generally involve information related to one company or a sliver of an industry. Hacking into a vendor with access to multiple companies is rarer and much more lucrative, he said; an SEC complaint filed in federal court in Boston alleges the conspirators raked in $82.5 million.

Now, Klyushin, a married father of five, is set to go to trial Monday in federal court in Boston on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized access to computers, and securities fraud, in a case that will be closely watched in diplomatic circles in the United States and Russia, according to legal experts. Klyushin owns a Moscow-based technology company, M-13, that provides media monitoring and cybersecurity testing for private and public entities, including the Russian Federation, and has “significant ties to the Russian government, and, more specifically, to parts of the Russian government engaged in defense and counter-espionage,” prosecutors said in court filings.

In response to defense concerns about whether Klyushin will receive a fair trial, US District Judge Patti B. Saris has agreed to question potential jurors about whether they feel any bias toward Russian nationals, but rejected a request to ask them about their feelings on the war in Ukraine. She also ruled that prosecutors may not mention Putin’s name during the trial.

Klyushin was first arrested in March 2021 after he arrived via a chartered jet in Switzerland, where a helicopter was waiting on the tarmac to whisk him and his family to a nearby luxury ski resort for a planned vacation. Local police swooped in at the request of US authorities. His codefendants were in Russia, a country with no extradition treaty with the United States; Swiss authorities extradited Klyushin to the United…

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