Android: a flaw exposes users' bank data and passwords -

Geeko

While the team behind Cerberus bowed out last August, a new Trojan horse is already on the march to replace it.

The cybersecurity researchers at ThreatFabric have indeed identified a new malware targeting bank accounts and largely using the source code of Cerberus.

According to the researchers, Alien is indeed a remastered and augmented version of Cerberus.

The new malware is able to install a backdoor on the smartphones it infects, in order to have full control.

Alien is also able to intercept notifications, in particular the famous SMS which contain authentication codes.

By having full access to smartphones and being able to receive and delete notifications, the malware can connect to banking applications to empty accounts.

Alien can also overlay content on apps to steal credentials.

ThreatFabric researchers estimate that the malware is capable of displaying bogus login pages for 226 Android apps.

These apps are primarily banking or cryptocurrency apps, but Alien can also impersonate Gmail, Facebook, Telegram, WhatApp, etc.

Very active in Europe

The banking Trojan is deployed in various ways to claim victims.

“Much of it appears to be distributed via phishing sites, for example a malicious page tricking victims into downloading bogus software updates or fake Corona apps (still a common trick at the moment),” Gaëtan Van Diemen explained, analyst at ThreatFabric, at ZDNet.

But Alien can also be deployed by SMS.

The malware is particularly active in Europe, particularly in Spain, Turkey, Germany, France and Italy, but also in the United States.

The researchers at ThreatFabric once again remind us of how important it is to be careful when installing apps outside of the Play Store.

If you need to download an app from outside the Google store, make sure it's a legitimate site.

Pay attention to the URL bar, spelling mistakes, consider doing a search for reviews about the site.

This will prevent you from having very bad surprises.

Do not rely on alarming text messages and contact the so-called author to ensure the veracity of the message.

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  • Application

  • Mobile app

  • Android

  • Bank account

  • Google

  • Cybersecurity

  • Smartphone

  • Personal data

  • High-Tech