Overlay, Accessibility and Notification Risks

Recognize high-impact capabilities commonly used by legitimate automation tools and malicious apps alike.

Core ideas

Use these points to build an accurate technical model before changing the device.

• Overlays can cover security-sensitive prompts or imitate another interface.
• Accessibility services can observe text and control interactions.
• Notification access can expose message previews, authentication codes and app activity.

Decision rule

Grant these privileges only when the feature clearly requires them, then verify the app’s identity and disable unused services.

Apply it on your phone

Record the device facts, source and expected result. Make one reversible change, observe the outcome, and keep the evidence needed to undo it.