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I have heard stories of more aggressive interrogation of electronic devices at US border crossings. I know a lot about securing computers, but very little about securing phones.

Are there easy ways to delete data—files, photos, etc.—on phones so it can’t be recovered? Does resetting a phone to factory defaults erase data, or is it still recoverable? That is, does the reset erase the old encryption key, or just sever the password that access that key? When the phone is rebooted, are deleted files still available?

We need answers for both iPhones and Android phones. And it’s not just the US; the world is going to become a more dangerous place to oppose state power.

Cybercriminals are getting smarter. They’re now using a development toolkit called .NET MAUI to create fake apps that look and feel like the real thing—banking apps, dating apps, and even social media. But instead of helping you, these apps secretly steal your private info. 

We break down the full research from McAfee Labs here: 

What Is .NET MAUI and Why Should You Care?

.NET MAUI is a tool used by developers to build apps that work on many devices—like phones, tablets, and computers—all from one set of code. 

That’s great for app creators. But now, hackers are using it too. While McAfee is able to detect this malware, the decision to build with .NET MAUI helps hide their dangerous code from most antivirus software. Think of it like a thief wearing an invisibility cloak—unless you’re really looking, you won’t see them. 

How These Fake Apps Trick You

1. They Look Legit

Hackers are creating apps that look like they’re from real companies. For example, one fake app pretended to be IndusInd Bank, asking users to enter sensitive information like: 

• Full name 

• Phone number 

• Email 

• Birthdate 

• Credit card information 

• Unique tax and personal identifiers (PAN and Aadhaar) 

Once you hit submit, that info goes straight to the hacker’s server. 

Figure 1. Fake IndusInd Bank app’s screen requesting user information

2. They Hide the Dangerous Stuff

Normal Android apps have code in a format security tools can scan. These fake apps hide their code in binary files so it can’t be easily detected. That lets them stay on your phone longer—stealing quietly in the background. 

Malware Example: Fake Social Media App

In another case, hackers made an app that pretended to be a social media platform. This one targeted Chinese-speaking users and was even trickier than the fake bank app. 

Here’s what it did: 

• Stole contacts, photos, and texts from the phone 

• Used a 3-stage process to hide its code 

• Encrypted everything so it’s harder to track 

• Used weird, fake app permissions to confuse security scanners 

And instead of using regular internet traffic, it sent stolen data through secret encrypted channels—so even if someone intercepted it, they couldn’t read it. 

Figure 2. Various fake apps using the same technique

Where Are These Apps Coming From?

These apps aren’t in the Google Play Store. Instead, hackers are sharing them on:

• Fake websites
• Messaging apps
• Sketchy links in texts or chat groups

So if someone sends you a link to a cool new app that’s not from the Play Store—be extra careful.

How to Protect Yourself

Here are a few easy ways to stay safe:

• Download apps only from official app stores like Google Play or the Apple App Store
• Avoid clicking on links from strangers or untrusted sources
• Install security software like McAfee+ to catch threats in real-time
• Keep your apps and software updated—updates often fix security holes
• Check app permissions—if a flashlight app wants access to your texts, that’s a red flag

Hackers are getting creative, but you can stay one step ahead. These new .NET MAUI-based threats are sneaky—but they’re not unstoppable.

With smart habits and the right tools, you can keep your phone and your personal info safe. Want real-time protection on your phone? Download McAfee+ and get ahead of the latest threats.

The post New Android Malware Sneaks Past Security by Pretending to Be Real Apps appeared first on McAfee Blog.

The collapse of genetic testing giant 23andMe has raised serious privacy concerns for millions of people who shared their DNA with the company. Once valued at $6 billion, the company has filed for bankruptcy and is now selling off assets—including, potentially, your genetic data. 

If you’ve ever used 23andMe to explore your ancestry or health traits, now is the time to take action.  

Here’s what’s going on, what it means for your data, how to delete your account, and steps you can take to better protect your online privacy going forward. 

What’s Going On at 23andMe? 

23andMe, once a pioneer in at-home genetic testing, has fallen into financial distress after a series of challenges, including a massive data breach in 2023 that exposed personal information of nearly 7 million users, according to TechCrunch. The company’s value plummeted by more than 99%, leading to mass board resignations and a March 2024 bankruptcy filing. 

Now, as 23andMe prepares to sell off its assets under court supervision, its massive database of customer DNA—reportedly from more than 15 million users—is on the table. Despite the company’s assurances that its privacy policy remains in effect, experts and privacy advocates warn that your sensitive genetic data could end up in the hands of third parties, including pharmaceutical companies or even law enforcement agencies. 

Is My Privacy at Risk? 

If you used 23andMe, yes.  

Genetic data is some of the most personal information you can share. It can reveal details about your ancestry, health risks, and even family secrets. With 23andMe not covered by HIPAA (the federal health privacy law), your DNA data isn’t protected the way medical records at a doctor’s office would be, The Harvard Gazette reports. 

Although 23andMe claims it won’t share individual-level data without consent, it does reserve the right to sell or transfer personal information as part of a bankruptcy or acquisition. That means your data could be bought by another company—one with different privacy practices or intentions. 

California residents, in particular, have the legal right to delete their data under the Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  

How to Delete Your 23andMe Data 

If you’re ready to take action, here’s how to delete your genetic data and revoke research permissions through your 23andMe account: 

To Delete Your Account and Genetic Data: 

1. Log in to your 23andMe account. 
2. Go to Settings. 
3. Scroll down to 23andMe Data and click View. 
4. (Optional) Download your data if you want to keep a copy. 
5. Scroll to the Delete Data section. 
6. Click Permanently Delete Data. 
7. Confirm via the email link you’ll receive. 

To Destroy Your Saliva Sample: 

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Navigate to Preferences. 
3. Select the option to destroy your stored biological sample. 

To Revoke Research Consent: 

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Navigate to Research and Product Consents. 
3. Withdraw your consent for data sharing. 

McAfee’s Tips for Protecting Your Online Privacy 

Your DNA isn’t the only personal data at risk. From email addresses and home addresses to phone numbers and even shopping habits, data brokers are collecting and selling your information online—often without your knowledge or consent. 

That’s why it’s critical to take control of your digital footprint. All McAfee+ plans provide the ability to scan the web for details of your personal information. McAfee’s Online Account Cleanup scans for accounts you no longer use and helps you delete them, along with your personal info. McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup, takes this a step further, by scanning data broker sites for your personal information, and requesting the removal of you details from those sites. 

Combined, these tools can give you back control over your privacy. All our McAfee+ plans include scans to find your accounts and direct you on how to remove your data.  

Bottom Line: If you’ve ever used 23andMe, your genetic data could be at risk of being transferred or sold. Take action now by deleting your account and revoking permissions. And to keep the rest of your personal data protected, use tools like McAfee+ to keep your personal data safe online. 

 

The post How to Delete Your Data from 23andMe and Protect Your Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Online scams are evolving faster than ever, with cybercriminals using AI, deepfake technology, and social engineering to trick unsuspecting users.

In the past year, Americans have been targeted by an average of 14 scam messages per day, and deepfake scams have surged 1,740% in North America, according to McAfee’s State of the Scamiverse report. 

These scams go beyond simple phishing emails—scammers now impersonate trusted companies, friends, and even loved ones, making it critical to recognize the warning signs before falling victim.

Here’s how you can spot an online scam and protect yourself: 

  

5 tips to help you recognize an online scam

Scams are scary, but you can prevent yourself from falling for one by knowing what to look for. Here are a few tell-tale signs that you’re dealing with a scammer.  

They say you’ve won a huge prize

If you get a message that you’ve won a big sum of cash in a sweepstakes you don’t remember entering, it’s a scam. Scammers may tell you that all you need to do to claim your prize is send them a small fee or give them your banking information.  

When you enter a real sweepstakes or lottery, it’s generally up to you to contact the organizer to claim your prize. Sweepstakes aren’t likely to chase you down to give you money.  

They want you to pay in a certain way

Scammers will often ask you to pay them using gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin), or through a particular money transfer service. Scammers need payments in forms that don’t give consumers protection.  

Gift card payments, for example, are typically not reversible and hard to trace. Legitimate organizations will rarely, if ever, ask you to pay using a specific method, especially gift cards.  

When you have to make online payments, it’s a good idea to use a secure service like PayPal. Secure payment systems can have features to keep you safe, like end-to-end encryption.  

They say it’s an emergency

Scammers may try to make you panic by saying you owe money to a government agency and you need to pay them immediately to avoid being arrested. Or the criminal might try to tug at your heartstrings by pretending to be a family member in danger who needs money.  

Criminals want you to pay them or give them your information quickly — before you have a chance to think about it. If someone tries to tell you to pay them immediately in a text message, phone call, or email, they’re likely a scammer.  

They say they’re from a government organization or company

Many scammers pretend to be part of government organizations like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They’ll claim you owe them money. Criminals can even use technology to make their phone numbers appear legitimate on your caller ID.  

If someone claiming to be part of a government organization contacts you, go to that organization’s official site and find an official support number or email. Contact them to verify the information in the initial message.  

Scammers may also pretend to be businesses, like your utility company. They’ll likely say something to scare you, like your gas will be turned off if you don’t pay them right away. 

The email is littered with grammatical errors

Most legitimate organizations will thoroughly proofread any copy or information they send to consumers. Professional emails are well-written, clear, and error-free. On the other hand, scam emails will likely be full of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.  

It might surprise you to know that scammers write sloppy emails on purpose. The idea is that if the reader is attentive enough to spot the grammatical mistakes, they likely won’t fall for the scam.  

8 most common online scams to watch out for

There are certain scams that criminals try repeatedly because they’ve worked on so many people. Here are a few of the most common scams you should watch out for.  

Phishing scams

A phishing scam can be a phone or email scam. The criminal sends a message in which they pretend to represent an organization you know. It directs you to a fraud website that collects your sensitive information, like your passwords, Social Security number (SSN), and bank account data. Once the scammer has your personal information, they can use it for personal gain.  

Phishing emails may try anything to get you to click on their fake link. They might claim to be your bank and ask you to log into your account to verify some suspicious activity. Or they could pretend to be a sweepstakes and say you need to fill out a form to claim a large reward.  

During the coronavirus pandemic, new phishing scams have emerged, with scammers claiming to be part of various charities and nonprofits. Sites like Charity Navigator can help you discern real groups from fake ones.  

Travel insurance scams

These scams also became much more prominent during the pandemic. Let’s say you’re preparing to fly to Paris with your family. A scammer sends you a message offering you an insurance policy on any travel plans you might be making. They’ll claim the policy will compensate you if your travel plans fall through for any reason without any extra charges.  

You think it might be a good idea to purchase this type of insurance. Right before leaving for your trip, you have to cancel your plans. You go to collect your insurance money only to realize the insurance company doesn’t exist.  

Real travel insurance from a licensed business generally won’t cover foreseeable events (like travel advisories, government turmoil, or pandemics) unless you buy a Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) addendum for your policy.  

Grandparent scams

Grandparent scams prey on your instinct to protect your family. The scammer will call or send an email pretending to be a family member in some sort of emergency who needs you to wire them money. The scammer may beg you to act right away and avoid sharing their situation with any other family members. 

For example, the scammer might call and say they’re your grandchild who’s been arrested in Mexico and needs money to pay bail. They’ll say they’re in danger and need you to send funds now to save them.  

If you get a call or an email from an alleged family member requesting money, take the time to make sure they’re actually who they say they are. Never wire transfer money right away or over the phone. Ask them a question that only the family member would know and verify their story with the rest of your family.  

Advance fee scam

You get an email from a prince. They’ve recently inherited a huge fortune from a member of their royal family. Now, the prince needs to keep their money in an American bank account to keep it safe. If you let them store their money in your bank account, you’ll be handsomely rewarded. You just need to send them a small fee to get the money.  

There are several versions of this scam, but the prince iteration is a pretty common one. If you get these types of emails, don’t respond or give out your financial information.  

Tech support scams

Your online experience is rudely interrupted when a pop-up appears telling you there’s a huge virus on your computer. You need to “act fast” and contact the support phone number on the screen. If you don’t, all of your important data will be erased.  

When you call the number, a fake tech support worker asks you for remote access to your device to “fix” the problem. If you give the scammer access to your device, they may steal your personal and financial information or install malware. Worse yet, they’ll probably charge you for it.  

These scams can be pretty elaborate. A scam pop-up may even appear to be from a reputable software company. If you see this type of pop-up, don’t respond to it. Instead, try restarting or turning off your device. If the device doesn’t start back up, search for the support number for the device manufacturer and contact them directly.  

Formjacking and retail scams

Scammers will often pose as popular e-commerce companies by creating fake websites. The fake webpages might offer huge deals on social media. They’ll also likely have a URL close to the real business’s URL but slightly different. 

Sometimes, a criminal is skilled enough to hack the website of a large online retailer. When a scammer infiltrates a retailer’s website, they can redirect where the links on that site lead. This is called formjacking.  

For example, you might go to an e-commerce store to buy a jacket. You find the jacket and put it in your online shopping cart. You click “check out,” and you’re taken to a form that collects your credit card information. What you don’t know is that the checkout form is fake. Your credit card number is going directly to the scammers.  

Whenever you’re redirected from a website to make a payment or enter in information, always check the URL. If the form is legitimate, it will have the same URL as the site you were on. A fake form will have a URL that’s close to but not exactly the same as the original site. 

Scareware scams (fake antivirus)

These scams are similar to tech support scams. However, instead of urging you to speak directly with a fake tech support person, their goal is to get you to download a fake antivirus software product (scareware).  

You’ll see a pop-up that says your computer has a virus, malware, or some other problem. The only way to get rid of the problem is to install the security software the pop-up links to. You think you’re downloading antivirus software that will save your computer.  

What you’re actually downloading is malicious software. There are several types of malware. The program might be ransomware that locks up your information until you pay the scammers or spyware that tracks your online activity.  

To avoid this scam, never download antivirus software from a pop-up. You’ll be much better off visiting the website of a reputable company, like McAfee, to download antivirus software.  

Credit repair scams

Dealing with credit card debt can be extremely stressful. Scammers know this and try to capitalize off it. They’ll send emails posing as credit experts and tell you they can help you fix your credit or relieve some of your debt. They might even claim they can hide harmful details on your credit report. 

All you have to do is pay a small fee. Of course, after you pay the fee, the “credit expert” disappears without helping you out with your credit at all. Generally, legitimate debt settlement firms won’t charge you upfront. If a credit relief company charges you a fee upfront, that’s a red flag.  

Before you enter into an agreement with any credit service, check out their reputation. Do an online search on the company to see what you can find. If there’s nothing about the credit repair company online, it’s probably fake.  

What can you do if you get scammed online?

Admitting that you’ve fallen for an online scam can be embarrassing. But reporting a scammer can help stop them from taking advantage of anyone else. If you’ve been the victim of an online scam, try contacting your local police department and filing a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  

Several other law enforcement organizations handle different types of fraud. Here are a few examples of institutions that can help you report scams.  

• The National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDS) handles fake scams involving natural disasters and other national crises.  
• The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) handles scams involving malware, fake websites, and fraudulent emails. 
• You can report international scams through econsumer.gov. 
• You can report Social Security scams through the Office of the Inspector General website.  
• You can report scammers who pretend to be the IRS through the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration website.  
• You can report tax-related identity fraud to the IRS. 

Discover how McAfee can keep you and your info safe online

Fraudsters shouldn’t stop you from enjoying your time online. Just by learning to spot an online scam, you can greatly strengthen your immunity to cybercrimes.  

For an even greater internet experience, you’ll want the right tools to protect yourself online. McAfee+ can help you confidently surf the web by providing all-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy. This includes identity protection — which comes with 24/7 monitoring of your email addresses and bank accounts — and antivirus software to help safeguard your internet connection.  

Get the peace of mind that comes with McAfee having your back. 

The post How to Recognize an Online Scammer appeared first on McAfee Blog.

CISA recommends immediate action to address malware variant RESURGE exploiting Ivanti vulnerability CVE-2025-0282

New “ClickFake Interview” campaign attributed to the Lazarus Group targets crypto professionals with fake job offers

The funding will go to several projects within the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) work program for 2025 to 2027

The UK’s National Cyber Security Agency has called on Next.js users to patch CVE-2025-29927

The DoJ has managed to recoup over $8m from scammers, stolen in romance baiting schemes

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who started the now-infamous group chat coordinating a US attack against the Yemen-based Houthis on March 15, is seemingly now suggesting that the secure messaging service Signal has security vulnerabilities.

“I didn’t see this loser in the group,” Waltz told Fox News about Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, whom Waltz invited to the chat. “Whether he did it deliberately or it happened in some other technical mean, is something we’re trying to figure out.”

Waltz’s implication that Goldberg may have hacked his way in was followed by a report from CBS News that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had sent out a bulletin to its employees last month warning them about a security “vulnerability” identified in Signal.

The truth, however, is much more interesting. If Signal has vulnerabilities, then China, Russia, and other US adversaries suddenly have a new incentive to discover them. At the same time, the NSA urgently needs to find and fix any vulnerabilities quickly as it can—and similarly, ensure that commercial smartphones are free of backdoors—access points that allow people other than a smartphone’s user to bypass the usual security authentication methods to access the device’s contents.

That is essential for anyone who wants to keep their communications private, which should be all of us.

It’s common knowledge that the NSA’s mission is breaking into and eavesdropping on other countries’ networks. (During President George W. Bush’s administration, the NSA conducted warrantless taps into domestic communications as well—surveillance that several district courts ruled to be illegal before those decisions were later overturned by appeals courts. To this day, many legal experts maintain that the program violated federal privacy protections.) But the organization has a secondary, complementary responsibility: to protect US communications from others who want to spy on them. That is to say: While one part of the NSA is listening into foreign communications, another part is stopping foreigners from doing the same to Americans.

Those missions never contradicted during the Cold War, when allied and enemy communications were wholly separate. Today, though, everyone uses the same computers, the same software, and the same networks. That creates a tension.

When the NSA discovers a technological vulnerability in a service such as Signal (or buys one on the thriving clandestine vulnerability market), does it exploit it in secret, or reveal it so that it can be fixed? Since at least 2014, a US government interagency “equities” process has been used to decide whether it is in the national interest to take advantage of a particular security flaw, or to fix it. The trade-offs are often complicated and hard.

Waltz—along with Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the other officials in the Signal group—have just made the trade-offs much tougher to resolve. Signal is both widely available and widely used. Smaller governments that can’t afford their own military-grade encryption use it. Journalists, human rights workers, persecuted minorities, dissidents, corporate executives, and criminals around the world use it. Many of these populations are of great interest to the NSA.

At the same time, as we have now discovered, the app is being used for operational US military traffic. So, what does the NSA do if it finds a security flaw in Signal?

Previously, it might have preferred to keep the flaw quiet and use it to listen to adversaries. Now, if the agency does that, it risks someone else finding the same vulnerability and using it against the US government. And if it was later disclosed that the NSA could have fixed the problem and didn’t, then the results might be catastrophic for the agency.

Smartphones present a similar trade-off. The biggest risk of eavesdropping on a Signal conversation comes from the individual phones that the app is running on. While it’s largely unclear whether the US officials involved had downloaded the app onto personal or government-issued phones—although Witkoff suggested on X that the program was on his “personal devices“—smartphones are consumer devices, not at all suitable for classified US government conversations. An entire industry of spyware companies sells capabilities to remotely hack smartphones for any country willing to pay. More capable countries have more sophisticated operations. Just last year, attacks that were later attributed to China attempted to access both President Donald Trump and Vance’s smartphones. Previously, the FBI—as well as law enforcement agencies in other countries—have pressured both Apple and Google to add “backdoors” in their phones to more easily facilitate court-authorized eavesdropping.

These backdoors would create, of course, another vulnerability to be exploited. A separate attack from China last year accessed a similar capability built into US telecommunications networks.

The vulnerabilities equities have swung against weakened smartphone security and toward protecting the devices that senior government officials now use to discuss military secrets. That also means that they have swung against the US government hoarding Signal vulnerabilities—and toward full disclosure.

This is plausibly good news for Americans who want to talk among themselves without having anyone, government or otherwise, listen in. We don’t know what pressure the Trump administration is using to make intelligence services fall into line, but it isn’t crazy to worry that the NSA might again start monitoring domestic communications.

Because of the Signal chat leak, it’s less likely that they’ll use vulnerabilities in Signal to do that. Equally, bad actors such as drug cartels may also feel safer using Signal. Their security against the US government lies in the fact that the US government shares their vulnerabilities. No one wants their secrets exposed.

I have long advocated for a “defense dominant” cybersecurity strategy. As long as smartphones are in the pocket of every government official, police officer, judge, CEO, and nuclear power plant operator—and now that they are being used for what the White House now calls calls  “sensitive,” if not outright classified conversations among cabinet members—we need them to be as secure as possible. And that means no government-mandated backdoors.

We may find out more about how officials—including the vice president of the United States—came to be using Signal on what seem to be consumer-grade smartphones, in a apparent breach of the laws on government records. It’s unlikely that they really thought through the consequences of their actions.

Nonetheless, those consequences are real. Other governments, possibly including US allies, will now have much more incentive to break Signal’s security than they did in the past, and more incentive to hack US government smartphones than they did before March 24.

For just the same reason, the US government has urgent incentives to protect them.

This essay was originally published in Foreign Policy.