The Latest Build of Samsung's Messages App Behaves Like Malware

Cybersecurity researchers have released a report last week according to which there is a major problem with Samsung mobile devices. The issue concerns Samsung's Messages app and, apparently, it emerged after the latest update of the up has been released. At least two of the company's smartphone models are affected, while users have not been aware of the problem until the experts' reports came out. The bug causes malware-like behavior in Samsung devices as it silently sends photos from the user's gallery to his or her contacts without the user's knowledge and consent. This random sending of photos is not limited to particular carriers, as a report from Android Police shows.

So far it is known that the two Samsung models Note 8 and Galaxy S9 have been hit by the harmful bug, yet the researchers believe that other models could be affected as well. The exact behavior of the compromised app varies from case to case, whereby in some cases the entire photo gallery has been sent to the user's contacts while in others only a few selected photos. The worst thing about this issue is that the victim has nearly no chance to notice that something wrong has happened unless alerted by some of its contacts - the sent messages do not appear in the "Sent" folder.

Supposedly, the bug has been introduced with the launching of the latest update of Samsung's Messages app. It can be downloaded from the Samsung Galaxy Store. Obviously, those lucky users who have not yet managed to install the update are recommended not to do so until the issue has been fixed. Otherwise, the best way to prevent the unwanted outgoing messages is to configure storage permissions. In order to do that, go to "Settings," then "Apps," then Messages, then "Permissions," and then "Storage." There, set the toggle to "off", which will prevent the Messages app from reading the photos saved in your gallery. A way to check whether your phone has silently sent photos to your contacts, apart from asking people personally, is to look at your carrier's logs if they contain any sent messages that you know nothing about.

Even if you have not experienced this malware-like behavior, it is recommended that you use the above steps to block the access of Messages app to your photos gallery, at least until Samsung comes out with a proper fix.