App Security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious Android app on the Google Play Store that enabled the threat actors behind it to steal approximately $70,000 in cryptocurrency from victims over a period of nearly five months. The dodgy app, identified by Check Point, masqueraded as the legitimate WalletConnect open-source protocol to trick unsuspecting users into downloading it. "Fake reviews and consistent branding helped the app achieve over 10,000 downloads by ranking high in search results," the cybersecurity company said in an analysis, adding it's the first time a cryptocurrency drainer has exclusively targeted mobile device users. Over 150 users are estimated to have fallen victim to the scam, although it's believed that not all users who downloaded the app were impacted by the cryptocurrency drainer. The campaign involved distributing a deceptive app that went by several names such as "Mestox Calculator," "WalletConnect - DeFi &...

Altered versions of legitimate Android apps associated with Spotify, WhatsApp, and Minecraft have been used to deliver a new version of a known malware loader called Necro. Kaspersky said some of the malicious apps have also been found on the Google Play Store. They have been cumulatively downloaded 11 million times. They include - Wuta Camera - Nice Shot Always (com.benqu.wuta) - 10+ million downloads Max Browser-Private & Security (com.max.browser) - 1+ million downloads As of writing, Max Browser is no longer available for download from the Play Store. Wuta Camera, on the other hand, has been updated (version 6.3.7.138) to remove the malware. The latest version of the app, 6.3.8.148, was released on September 8, 2024. It's currently not clear how both the apps were compromised with the malware in the first place, although it's believed that a rogue software developer kit (SDK) for integrating advertising capabilities is the culprit. Necro (not to be confused w...

Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...

Google has unveiled a new pilot program in Singapore that aims to prevent users from sideloading certain apps that abuse Android app permissions to read one-time passwords and gather sensitive data. "This enhanced fraud protection will analyze and automatically block the installation of apps that may use sensitive runtime permissions frequently abused for financial fraud when the user attempts to install the app from an Internet-sideloading source (web browsers, messaging apps, or file managers)," the company  said . The feature is designed to examine the permissions declared by a third-party app in real-time and look for those that seek to gain access to sensitive permissions associated with reading SMS messages, deciphering or dismissing notifications from legitimate apps, and accessibility services that have been  routinely   abused  by Android-based malware for  extracting valuable information . As part of the test, users in Singapore who attempt to sid...

A new Android backdoor has been discovered with potent capabilities to carry out a range of malicious actions on infected devices. Dubbed  Xamalicious  by the McAfee Mobile Research Team, the malware is so named for the fact that it's developed using an open-source mobile app framework called Xamarin and abuses the operating system's accessibility permissions to fulfill its objectives. It's also capable of gathering metadata about the compromised device and contacting a command-and-control (C2) server to fetch a second-stage payload, but only after determining if it fits the bill. The second stage is "dynamically injected as an assembly DLL at runtime level to take full control of the device and potentially perform fraudulent actions such as clicking on ads, installing apps, among other actions financially motivated without user consent," security researcher Fernando Ruiz  said . The cybersecurity firm said it identified 25 apps that come with this active thr...

Google is rolling out a new banner to highlight the "Independent security review" badge in the Play Store's Data safety section for Android VPN apps that have undergone a Mobile Application Security Assessment ( MASA ) audit. "We've launched this banner beginning with VPN apps due to the sensitive and significant amount of user data these apps handle," Nataliya Stanetsky of the Android Security and Privacy Team  said . MASA allows developers to have their apps independently validated against a global security standard such as the Mobile Application Security Verification Standard ( MASVS ), thereby providing more transparency and enabling users to make informed choices prior to downloading them. The efforts are part of Google's broader push to make the Data safety section a  one-stop   shop  that presents a "unified view of app safety," offering details about the kind of data that's being collected, for what purpose, and if it's be...

It might come as a surprise, but secrets management has become the elephant in the AppSec room. While security vulnerabilities like Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) often make headlines in the cybersecurity world, secrets management remains an overlooked issue that can have immediate and impactful consequences for corporate safety.  A recent study by GitGuardian found that 75% of IT decision-makers in the US and the UK reported at least one secret leaked from an application, with 60% causing issues for the company or employees. Shockingly, less than half of respondents (48%) were confident in their ability to protect application secrets "to a great extent." The study, named  Voice of Practitioners: The State of Secrets in AppSec  (available for free download  here ), provides a fresh perspective on managing secrets, which is often reduced to clichés that do not reflect the operational reality in engineering departments.  Despite their ubiquity in ...

Apple has announced that it prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and rejected roughly 1.7 million app submissions for privacy and security violations in 2022. The computing giant said it terminated 428,000 developer accounts for potential fraudulent activity, blocked 105,000 fake developer account creations, and deactivated 282 million bogus customer accounts. It further noted that it thwarted 198 million attempted fraudulent new accounts prior to their creation. In contrast, Apple is estimated to have booted out 802,000 developer accounts in 2021. The company attributed the decline to new App Store "methods and protocols" that prevent the creation of such accounts in the first place. "In 2022, Apple protected users from nearly 57,000 untrustworthy apps from illegitimate storefronts," the company  emphasized . "These unauthorized marketplaces distribute harmful software that can imitate popular apps or alter them without the cons...

Google disclosed that its improved security features and app review processes helped it block 1.43 million bad apps from being published to the Play Store in 2022. In addition, the company said it banned 173,000 bad accounts and fended off over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions through  developer-facing features  like Voided Purchases API, Obfuscated Account ID, and Play Integrity API. The addition of identity verification methods such as phone number and email address to join Google Play contributed to a reduction in accounts used to publish apps that go against its policies, Google pointed out. The search behemoth further said it "prevented about 500K submitted apps from unnecessarily accessing sensitive permissions over the past 3 years." "In 2022, the  App Security Improvements program  helped developers fix ~500K security weaknesses affecting ~300K apps with a combined install base of approximately 250B installs," it  noted . In contr...