Google blocks Android spyware that captures users' personal data A new batch of spyware named 'Lipizzan' can infiltrates users' text messages, voice calls, location data and photos.

A new batch of spyware named 'Lipizzan' can infiltrates users' text messages, voice calls, location data and photos. 

 SAN FRANSISCO: A new batch of spyware named 'Lipizzan' that could capture users' text messages, voice calls, location data and photos has been discovered and blocked by Google. The company, in a blog post, said it discovered a new family of Android spyware while investigating another spyware named 'Chrysaor'. Lipizzan's code contains references to a cyber arms company, Equus Technologies. It is a multi-stage spyware product capable of monitoring and exfilt .. 
Lipizzan was a sophisticated two-stage spyware tool. The first stage found by Google Play Protect was distributed through several channels, including Google Play, and typically impersonated an innocuous-sounding app such as a "Backup" or "Cleaner" app. 
Upon installation, 'Lipizzan' would download and load a second "license verification" stage, which would survey the infected device and validate certain abort criteria.