This new Android attack could trick you into compromising your own phone — everything you need to know

A person looking at a phone with a digital warning sign over it — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Tapping the wrong part of the screen on one of the best Android phones could leave you and your device completely vulnerable to hackers.

A team of security researchers at TU Wien and the University of Bayreuth have published a paper detailing their new TapTrap attack technique. Surprisingly, it's capable of bypassing Android’s permission system in order to access sensitive information and deceive users into clicking buttons that will perform malicious actions.

Basically, TapTrap overlays an animation on top of a harmless app – essentially launching an invisible, malicious image on top of a legitimate regularly functioning action.

Users who believe they’re interacting with a normal app may tap on buttons that say “allow” or “authorize” on screen positions that correspond to risk actions because they're overlayed on invisible prompts. This could potentially even convince a user to wipe a device by mistake and to make matters worse, it works with zero-permission apps.

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Amber Bouman is the senior security editor at Tom's Guide where she writes about antivirus software, home security, identity theft and more. She has long had an interest in personal security, both online and off, and also has an appreciation for martial arts and edged weapons. With over two decades of experience working in tech journalism, Amber has written for a number of publications including PC World, Maximum PC, Tech Hive, and Engadget covering everything from smartphones to smart breast pumps.

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