Android+Malware | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Tibetan, Uyghur, and Taiwanese individuals and organizations are the targets of a persistent campaign orchestrated by a threat actor codenamed  EvilBamboo  to gather sensitive information. "The attacker has created fake Tibetan websites, along with social media profiles, likely used to deploy browser-based exploits against targeted users," Volexity security researchers Callum Roxan, Paul Rascagneres, and Thomas Lancaster said in a report published last week. "Partly through impersonating existing popular communities, the attacker has built communities on online platforms, such as Telegram, to aid in distribution of their malware." EvilBamboo, formerly tracked by the cybersecurity firm under the name Evil Eye, has been linked to multiple attack waves  since at least 2019 , with the threat actor leveraging watering hole attacks to deliver spyware targeting Android and iOS devices. It's also known as Earth Empusa and POISON CARP. The intrusions directed agai

A new analysis of the Android banking trojan known as Hook has revealed that it's based on its predecessor called ERMAC. "The ERMAC source code was used as a base for Hook," NCC Group security researchers Joshua Kamp and Alberto Segura  said  in a technical analysis published last week. "All commands (30 in total) that the malware operator can send to a device infected with ERMAC malware, also exist in Hook. The code implementation for these commands is nearly identical." Hook was  first documented  by ThreatFabric in January 2023, describing it as a " ERMAC  fork" that's offered for sale for $7,000 per month. Both the strains are the work of a malware author called DukeEugene. That said, Hook expands on ERMAC's functionalities with more capabilities, supporting as many as 38 additional commands when compared to the latter. ERMAC's core features are designed to send SMS messages, display a phishing window on top of a legitimate app, e

Spyware masquerading as modified versions of Telegram have been spotted in the Google Play Store that's designed to harvest sensitive information from compromised Android devices. According to Kaspersky security researcher Igor Golovin, the apps come with  nefarious features  to capture and exfiltrate names, user IDs, contacts, phone numbers, and chat messages to an actor-controlled server. The activity has been codenamed  Evil Telegram  by the Russian cybersecurity company. The apps have been collectively downloaded millions of times before they were taken down by Google. Their details are as follows - 電報,紙飛機-TG繁體中文版 or 電報,小飛機-TG繁體中文版 (org.telegram.messenger.wab) - 10 million+ downloads TG繁體中文版-電報,紙飛機 (org.telegram.messenger.wab) - 50,000+ downloads 电报,纸飞机-TG简体中文版 (org.telegram.messenger.wob) - 50,000+ downloads 电报,纸飞机-TG简体中文版 (org.tgcn.messenger.wob) - 10,000+ downloads ئۇيغۇر تىلى TG - تېلېگرامما (org.telegram.messenger.wcb) - 100+ downloads The last app on the list tran

A  Mirai botnet  variant called  Pandora  has been observed infiltrating inexpensive Android-based TV sets and TV boxes and using them as part of a botnet to perform distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Doctor Web said the compromises are likely to occur either during malicious firmware updates or when applications for viewing pirated video content are installed. "It is likely that this update has been made available for download from a number of websites, as it is signed with publicly available Android Open Source Project test keys," the Russian company  said  in an analysis published Wednesday. "The service that runs the backdoor is included in boot.img," enabling it to persist between system restarts. In the alternative distribution methods, it's suspected that users are tricked into installing applications for streaming pirated movies and TV shows through websites that mainly single out Spanish-speaking users. The list of apps is as follows -

Google has rolled out monthly security patches for Android to address a number of flaws, including a zero-day bug that it said may have been exploited in the wild. Tracked as  CVE-2023-35674 , the high-severity vulnerability is described as a case of privilege escalation impacting the  Android Framework . "There are indications that CVE-2023-35674 may be under limited, targeted exploitation," the company  said  in its Android Security Bulletin for September 2023 without delving into additional specifics. The update also addresses three other privilege escalation flaws in Framework, with the search giant noting that the most severe of these issues "could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed" sans any user interaction. Google said it has further plugged a critical security vulnerability in the System component that could lead to remote code execution without requiring interaction on the part of the victim. "The severity assessment is

A Syrian threat actor named  EVLF  has been outed as the creator of malware families CypherRAT and CraxsRAT. "These RATs are designed to allow an attacker to remotely perform real-time actions and control the victim device's camera, location, and microphone," Cybersecurity firm Cyfirma  said  in a report published last week. CypherRAT and CraxsRAT are said to be offered to other cybercriminals as part of a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) scheme. As many as 100 unique threat actors are estimated to have purchased the twin tools on a lifetime license over the past three years. EVLF is said to be operating a web shop to advertise their warez since at least September 2022. CraxsRAT is billed as an Android trojan that enables a threat actor to remote control an infected device from a Windows computer, with the developer consistently releasing new updates based on feedback from the customers. The malicious package is generated using a builder, which comes with options to cus

Threat actors are using Android Package (APK) files with unknown or unsupported compression methods to elude malware analysis. That's according to findings from Zimperium, which found 3,300 artifacts leveraging such compression algorithms in the wild. 71 of the identified samples can be loaded on the operating system without any problems. There is no evidence that the apps were available on the Google Play Store at any point in time, indicating that the apps were distributed through other means, typically via untrusted app stores or social engineering to trick the victims into sideloading them. The APK files use "a technique that limits the possibility of decompiling the application for a large number of tools, reducing the possibilities of being analyzed," security researcher Fernando Ortega  said . "In order to do that, the APK (which is in essence a ZIP file), is using an unsupported decompression method." The advantage of such an approach is its abilit

Threat actors are leveraging a technique called versioning to evade Google Play Store's malware detections and target Android users. "Campaigns using versioning commonly target users' credentials, data, and finances," Google Cybersecurity Action Team (GCAT)  s aid  in its August 2023 Threat Horizons Report shared with The Hacker News. While versioning is not a new phenomenon, it's sneaky and hard to detect. In this method, a developer releases an initial version of an app on the Play Store that passes Google's pre-publication checks, but is later updated with a malware component. This is achieved by pushing an update from an attacker-controlled server to serve malicious code on the end user device using a method called dynamic code loading (DCL), effectively turning the app into a backdoor. Earlier this May, ESET  discovered  a screen recording app named "iRecorder - Screen Recorder" that remained innocuous for nearly a year after it was first

Various European customers of different banks are being targeted by an Android banking trojan called  SpyNote  as part of an aggressive campaign detected in June and July 2023. "The spyware is distributed through email phishing or smishing campaigns and the fraudulent activities are executed with a combination of remote access trojan (RAT) capabilities and vishing attack," Italian cybersecurity firm Cleafy  said  in a technical analysis released Monday. SpyNote , also called SpyMax, is similar to other Android banking Trojans in that it requires  Android's accessibility permissions  in order to grant itself other necessary permissions and gather sensitive data from infected devices. What makes the malware strain notable is its dual functions as spyware and perform bank fraud. The attack chains commence with a bogus SMS message urging users to install a banking app by clicking on the accompanying link, redirecting the victim to the legitimate TeamViewer QuickSupport a

A new Android malware strain called  CherryBlos  has been observed making use of optical character recognition (OCR) techniques to gather sensitive data stored in pictures. CherryBlos, per  Trend Micro , is distributed via bogus posts on social media platforms and comes with capabilities to steal cryptocurrency wallet-related credentials and act as a  clipper  to substitute wallet addresses when a victim copies a string matching a predefined format is copied to the clipboard. Once installed, the apps seek users' permissions to grant it accessibility permissions, which allows it to automatically grant itself additional permissions as required. As a defense evasion measure, users attempting to kill or uninstall the app by entering the Settings app are redirected back to the home screen. Besides displaying fake overlays on top of legitimate crypto wallet apps to steal credentials and make fraudulent fund transfers to an attacker-controlled address, CherryBlos utilizes OCR to recog

Threat actors are taking advantage of Android's  WebAPK technology  to trick unsuspecting users into installing malicious web apps on Android phones that are designed to capture sensitive personal information. "The attack began with victims receiving SMS messages suggesting the need to update a mobile banking application," researchers from CSIRT KNF  said  in an analysis released last week. "The link contained in the message led to a site that used WebAPK technology to install a malicious application on the victim's device." The application impersonates PKO Bank Polski, a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Warsaw. Details of the campaign were  first shared  by Polish cybersecurity firm RIFFSEC. WebAPK allows users to install progressive web apps (PWAs) to their home screen on Android devices without having to use the Google Play Store. "When a user installs a PWA from Google Chrome and a WebAPK is used, the minti

Two file management apps on the Google Play Store have been discovered to be spyware, putting the privacy and security of up to 1.5 million Android users at risk. These apps engage in deceptive behaviour and secretly send sensitive user data to malicious servers in China. Pradeo, a leading mobile security company, has uncovered this alarming infiltration. The report shows that both spyware apps, namely File Recovery and Data Recovery (com.spot.music.filedate) with over 1 million installs, and File Manager (com.file.box.master.gkd) with over 500,000 installs, are developed by the same group. These seemingly harmless Android apps use similar malicious tactics and automatically launch when the device reboots without user input. Contrary to what they claim on the Google Play Store, where both apps assure users that no data is collected, Pradeo's analytics engine has found that various personal information is collected without users' knowledge. Stolen data includes contact list

Google has released its monthly security updates for the Android operating system, addressing 46 new software vulnerabilities. Among these, three vulnerabilities have been identified as actively exploited in targeted attacks. One of the vulnerabilities tracked as CVE-2023-26083 is a memory leak flaw affecting the Arm Mali GPU driver for Bifrost, Avalon, and Valhall chips. This particular vulnerability was exploited in a previous attack that enabled spyware infiltration on Samsung devices in December 2022. This vulnerability was regarded as serious enough to prompt the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to issue a patching order for federal agencies in April 2023. Another significant vulnerability, identified as CVE-2021-29256, is a high-severity issue that affects specific versions of the Bifrost and Midgard Arm Mali GPU kernel drivers. This flaw permits an unprivileged user to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and escalate privileges to the root lev

Cybersecurity researchers have shared the inner workings of an Android malware family called  Fluhorse . The malware "represents a significant shift as it incorporates the malicious components directly within the Flutter code," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researcher Axelle Apvrille  said  in a report published last week. Fluhorse was  first documented  by Check Point in early May 2023, detailing its attacks on users located in East Asia through rogue apps masquerading as ETC and VPBank Neo, which are popular in Taiwan and Vietnam. The initial intrusion vector for the malware is phishing. The ultimate goal of the app is to steal credentials, credit card details, and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes received as SMS to a remote server under the control of the threat actors. The latest findings from Fortinet, which reverse-engineered a  Fluhorse sample  uploaded to VirusTotal on June 11, 2023, suggest that the malware has evolved, incorporating additional sophistication b

Android-based phone monitoring app LetMeSpy has disclosed a security breach that allowed an unauthorized third-party to steal sensitive data associated with thousands of Android users. "As a result of the attack, the criminals gained access to email addresses, telephone numbers and the content of messages collected on accounts," LetMeSpy  said  in an announcement on its website, noting the incident took place on June 21, 2023. Following the discovery of the hack, LetMeSpy said it notified law enforcement and data protection authorities. It's also taking steps to suspend all account-related functions until further notice. The identity of the threat actor and their motives are currently unknown. The work of a Polish company named Radeal, LetMeSpy is offered as a monthly subscription ($6 for Standard or $12 for Pro), allowing its customers to snoop on others simply by installing the software on their devices. An  Internet Archive snapshot  from December 2013 shows that i

A new Android malware campaign has been observed pushing the Anatsa banking trojan to target banking customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since the start of March 2023. "The actors behind Anatsa aim to steal credentials used to authorize customers in mobile banking applications and perform Device-Takeover Fraud (DTO) to initiate fraudulent transactions," ThreatFabric  said  in an analysis published Monday. The Dutch cybersecurity company said Anatsa-infected Google Play Store  dropper apps  have accrued over 30,000 installations to date, indicating that the official app storefront has become an effective distribution vector for the malware. Anatsa, also known by the name TeaBot and Toddler, first  emerged  in  early 2021 , and has been observed  masquerading  as  seemingly innocuous utility apps  like PDF readers, QR code scanners, and two-factor authentication (2FA) apps on Google Play to siphon users' credentials. It has since become one o

Individuals in the Pakistan region have been targeted using two rogue Android apps available on the Google Play Store as part of a new targeted campaign. Cybersecurity firm Cyfirma attributed the campaign with moderate confidence to a threat actor known as  DoNot Team , which is also tracked as APT-C-35 and Viceroy Tiger. The espionage activity involves duping Android smartphone owners into downloading a program that's used to extract contact and location data from unwitting victims. "The motive behind the attack is to gather information via the stager payload and use the gathered information for the second-stage attack, using malware with more destructive features," the company  said . DoNot Team  is a suspected India-nexus threat actor that has a reputation for carrying out attacks against various countries in South Asia. It has been active since at least 2016. While an October 2021 report from Amnesty International linked the group's attack infrastructure to

An updated version of an Android remote access trojan dubbed  GravityRAT  has been found masquerading as messaging apps BingeChat and Chatico as part of a narrowly targeted campaign since June 2022. "Notable in the newly discovered campaign, GravityRAT can exfiltrate WhatsApp backups and receive commands to delete files," ESET researcher Lukáš Štefanko  said  in a new report published today. "The malicious apps also provide legitimate chat functionality based on the open-source  OMEMO  Instant Messenger app." GravityRAT is the name given to a  cross-platform malware  that's capable of targeting Windows, Android, and macOS devices. The Slovak cybersecurity firm is tracking the activity under the name SpaceCobra. The threat actor is suspected to be based in Pakistan, with recent attacks involving GravityRAT targeting military personnel in India and among the Pakistan Air Force by camouflaging it as cloud storage and entertainment apps, as  disclosed  by Meta

Thousands of adware apps for Android have been found to masquerade as cracks or modded versions of popular applications to serve unwanted ads to users as part of a campaign ongoing since October 2022. "The campaign is designed to aggressively push adware to Android devices with the purpose to drive revenue," Bitdefender said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News. "However, the threat actors involved can easily switch tactics to redirect users to other types of malware such as banking Trojans to steal credentials and financial information or ransomware." The Romanian cybersecurity company said it has discovered 60,000 unique apps carrying the adware, with a majority of the detections located in the U.S., South Korea, Brazil, Germany, the U.K., France, Kazakhstan, Romania, and Italy. It's worth pointing out that none of the apps are distributed through the official Google Play Store. Instead, users searching for apps like Netflix, PDF viewers, se