Beware IAVA’s Vetmoji

| May 11, 2016

Richard sends us a link to Popular Science which warns about Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America-commissioned emoji application for smart phones. It’s supposed to be a clever little thing to add to your phone so you can use emojis that have little patrol caps and military-oriented subjects;

I was super excited when I got the email from IAVA about new military emojis. I gladly paid the $1.99 and then was told the app needs full access to my phone with a key logger. This allows the app to track and store sensitive information like credit card numbers and [Social Security] numbers. More importantly I can’t communicate with my troops on drill activities or fellow employees as a police officer. I denied access and every time I type a message and click the emoji keyboard to add an emoji I get an additional pop up screen asking me allow access to this additional keyboard.

[…]

The Defense Technical Information Center listed keyloggers as malicious code, noting they can corrupt files and destroy or modify information, compromise that information and lose it, or give hackers access to sabotage systems.

I have a hard time believing that IAVA intentionally decided to give hackers a helping hand busting into your phones. However, I can believe that the IAVA would sell a defective product to line their pockets without getting a professional opinion on it’s security. I can barely answer my phone let alone start sending pretty messages, so I have no apps on my phone that aren’t related to that function.

Category: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

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Skippy

Got a email from them on this the other day and after much thought I made my own

Dave Hardin

:holy: :shit: :skippy:

Sparks

:mrgreen” I’m a quick learner.

Sparks

Damn it!!!!

What a dumb ass!

:mrgreen:

Skippy

BHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!!
?????????☺️??????✋??

nousdefions

just because

:middle_finger: :man_with_turban:

A Proud Infidel®™

I consider anything coming from IAVA a ???????????????????, ditto with Oafkeepers.

The Other Whitey

Does anybody believe IAVA is above partaking in fraud? The fact that it logs credit card numbers and PII seems just a little too convenient.

Pinto Nag

Your modern ‘phone’ — isn’t. It’s a computer, with all of the attendant possibilities for malware attack. Remember that just because it rides in your purse or pocket does not mean that others can’t get access to it — via your own carelessness or stupidity. PAY ATTENTION!!

UpNorth

That’s why I don’t buy anything using my phone. Also, I don’t even think about any banking apps.

Twist

A modern “phone” has more technology in it that the Lunar Lander did.

Ex-PH2

Ah! Good reason to stick with my old-fashioned, but very reliable, flip phone. I have enough robots in my life, don’t need to add any more.

Veritas Omnia Vincit

Yeah any app that needs access as a keylogger is an app that needs to be removed and cleaned out of your system…..

Too many folks just load a cool app and say yes to everything the app requests without thinking if it might have some serious ramifications.

Also don’t surf porn on your phone…like your computer it should go without saying, but the number of computers I see blown up from porn or phone hacks from porn…if you need to surf porn get an older machine and give it a static IP that’s in the DMZ of your home network…and plan on reformatting it a lot…

FatCircles0311

Why is this even a thing?

I guess I’m officially old balls now.

Toasty Coastie

“Old Balls” and “F*** Apples”…my two new favorite expressions lol

Jarhead

Hopefully most of you already know this. Don’t EVER link to the flashlight app for your smart phone. Definitely going to attach cookies you’ve never heard of and don’t want.

CCO

I don’t know if this is applicable in this case.There was a problem a while back (in the last 12 months, maybe) with iOS apps that had been compiled in China. Long story short, some developers there had downloaded their compiler from a local source because downloading that program from Apple takes forever (at my house overnight) and the program they downloaded had a file in it to install malware in all the apps compiled.

(Footnote for the non-tech savvy: A compiler is the program that makes other programs. Think of it as a forge to make the hammer.)

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LastBrotherHome

IAVA’s latest focus is the Post 9/11 GI Bill, but their campaign has been under the guise of #DefendTheGIBill, which to the uninitiated would presume they would be attempting to defend the totality of GI Bill benefits, such as MGIB. They are not, so with that, and this emoji crap, as a OIF Vet, I find their actions to be more than wanting.