Chat app used by millions is a major spy tool, delete it from your device immediately
A popular messaging app, ToTok, downloaded by millions of smart phone users globally has proven to be a spy tool deployed by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The app has only been available for the last few months but has already been dropped by the Apple and Google app stores that sponsored it. Unfortunately, the app remains functional until it gets uninstalled from users’ devices.
The fact that ToTok turned out to be a major spy tool was revealed yesterday by an exposé released by The New York Times that shared that the app “is used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to try to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it on their phones.”
CNET reported that, initially, most of the app’s users were located in the UAE; but not long after the app became available, it became very popular in America.
An analysis and interviews with computer security experts suggest the company behind ToTok, Breej Holding, is a front for DarkMatter, an Abu Dhabi-based cyberintelligence and hacking firm that employs Emirati intelligence officials, former National Security Agency employees and former Israeli military intelligence operatives, The Times reported.
Industry professionals strongly urge any and all ToTok users to uninstall and delete the app from all devices – and to tell your friends to do the same.
“Uninstall it yesterday,” says Patrick Wardle, a security researcher at Jamf specialized in Apple operating systems who formerly worked at the National Security Agency. On Sunday, he released a technical analysis of ToTok.
For more on ToTok and why it’s so important to delete the app, see the video accompanying this article.
~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
