In this report, we analyze the Windows, Android, and iOS versions of Tencent’s Sogou Input Method, the most popular Chinese-language input method in China. Our analysis found serious vulnerabilities in the app’s custom encryption system and how it encrypts sensitive data. These vulnerabilities could allow a network eavesdropper to decrypt sensitive communications sent by the app, including revealing all keystrokes being typed by the user. Following our disclosure of these vulnerabilities, Sogou released updated versions of the app that identified all of the issues we disclosed.
Vulnerabilities in Sogou Keyboard encryption expose keypresses to network eavesdropping.
Unlike iOS pretty much every part of the Android OS is replaceable. There is technically no “unified” version of Android, each Android phone manufacturer has their own unique spin on it, and since its open source, or at least most of it is, anyone can make their own version. For example: Lineage OS, /e/OS, and Graphene OS.
Unlike iOS pretty much every part of the Android OS is replaceable. There is technically no “unified” version of Android, each Android phone manufacturer has their own unique spin on it, and since its open source, or at least most of it is, anyone can make their own version. For example: Lineage OS, /e/OS, and Graphene OS.