Panama firm code collected user data for US cybersecurity agencies: WSJ
A Panamian company paid between $100 and $10,000 per month to developers who agreed to include its software code that collected data in their mobile apps.
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The Panamian company provided intelligence-intercept work for US national security agencies.
A Panamanian company, Measurement Systems S. de R.L., has been developing a code to collect users’ data for a defense contractor from the US state of Virginia, The Wall Street Journal revealed on Wednesday citing findings of two researchers.
The newspaper explained that the Panamian company provides cyber intelligence, network "defense", and intelligence-intercept work for American national security agencies.
Software discovered in several Muslim prayer apps
Measurement Systems wrote a code that was incorporated into predominantly Android apps that ran on millions of devices, the report indicated.
The hidden software was discovered in several Muslim prayer apps, a highway-speed-trap detection app, a QR-code reading app, and others.
It is noteworthy that Google removed apps that contained Measurement Systems software from the Google Play Store on March 25, but they can be relisted after the harmful software is removed, noted the newspaper.
Between $100 & $10,000 for developers
The report revealed that the internet domain of Measurement Systems was registered in 2013 by a Virginia-based company named Vostrom, which is a contractor for the US government through a subsidiary - Packet Forensics LLC.
According to the report, the Panamanian company refuted all allegations that it has collected users’ data by means of inserting its software into a host of applications and refused to answer questions about why its domain was registered by Vostrom.
The newspaper also found that Measurement Systems paid between $100 and $10,000 per month to those developers who agreed to include its software code in their mobile apps, and it promised that the code collects "non-personal information about app users."
