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Cybercriminals associated with a financially motivated group known as GoldFactory have been observed staging a fresh round of attacks targeting mobile users in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam by impersonating government services. The activity , observed since October 2024, involves distributing modified banking applications that act as a conduit for Android malware, Group-IB said in a technical report published Wednesday. Assessed to be active as far back as June 2023, GoldFactory first gained attention early last year, when the Singapore-headquartered cybersecurity company detailed the threat actor's use of custom malware families like GoldPickaxe, GoldDigger, and GoldDiggerPlus targeting both Android and iOS devices. Evidence points to GoldFactory being a well-organized Chinese-speaking cybercrime group with close connections to Gigabud , another Android malware that was spotted in mid-2023. Despite major disparities in their codebases, both GoldDigger and Gigabud have bee...

The threat actor known as Water Saci is actively evolving its tactics, switching to a sophisticated, highly layered infection chain that uses HTML Application (HTA) files and PDFs to propagate via WhatsApp a worm that deploys a banking trojan in attacks targeting users in Brazil. The latest wave is characterized by the attackers shifting from PowerShell to a Python-based variant that spreads the malware in a worm-like manner over WhatsApp Web. "Their new multi-format attack chain and possible use of artificial intelligence (AI) to convert propagation scripts from PowerShell to Python exemplifies a layered approach that has enabled Water Saci to bypass conventional security controls, exploit user trust across multiple channels, and ramp up their infection rates," Trend Micro researchers Jeffrey Francis Bonaobra, Sarah Pearl Camiling, Joe Soares, Byron Gelera, Ian Kenefick, and Emmanuel Panopio said . In these attacks, users receive messages from trusted contacts on WhatsA...

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new campaign targeting Brazilian users since the start of 2025 to infect users with a malicious extension for Chromium-based web browsers and siphon user authentication data. "Some of the phishing emails were sent from the servers of compromised companies, increasing the chances of a successful attack," Positive Technologies security researcher Klimentiy Galkin said in a report. "The attackers used a malicious extension for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Brave browsers, as well as Mesh Agent and PDQ Connect Agent." The Russian cybersecurity company, which is tracking the activity under the name Operation Phantom Enigma , said the malicious extension was downloaded 722 times from across Brazil, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Russia, and Vietnam, among others. As many as 70 unique victim companies have been identified. Some aspects of the campaign were disclosed in early April by a researcher who goes by th...

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to an Android malware campaign that leverages Microsoft's .NET Multi-platform App UI (.NET MAUI) framework to create bogus banking and social media apps targeting Indian and Chinese-speaking users. "These threats disguise themselves as legitimate apps, targeting users to steal sensitive information," McAfee Labs researcher Dexter Shin said . .NET MAUI is Microsoft's cross-platform desktop and mobile app framework for creating native applications using C# and XAML. It represents an evolution of Xamarin, with added capabilities to not only create multi-platform apps using a single project, but also incorporate platform-specific source code as and when necessary. It's worth noting that official support for Xamarin ended on May 1, 2024 , with the tech giant urging developers to migrate to .NET MAUI. While Android malware implemented using Xamarin has been detected in the past , the latest development signals that ...

India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said it's introducing an exclusive "bank.in" internet domain for banks in the country to combat digital financial fraud. "This initiative aims to reduce cyber security threats and malicious activities like phishing; and, streamline secure financial services, thereby enhancing trust in digital banking and payment services," the RBI said in a statement issued today. To that end, the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will act as the exclusive registrar. Registrations for the domains are expected to start from April 2025. The RBI also said it plans to roll out a separate exclusive domain "fin.in" for other non-bank entities in the financial sector. As part of broader efforts to enhance trust in online payments, the RBI said it's also debuting what's called Additional Factor of Authentication ( AFA ) for cross-border card-not-present ( CNP ) online t...

New variants of a banking malware called Grandoreiro have been found to adopt new tactics in an effort to bypass anti-fraud measures, indicating that the malicious software is continuing to be actively developed despite law enforcement efforts to crack down on the operation. "Only part of this gang was arrested: the remaining operators behind Grandoreiro continue attacking users all over the world, further developing new malware and establishing new infrastructure," Kaspersky said in an analysis published Tuesday. Some of the other freshly incorporated tricks include the use of a domain generation algorithm (DGA) for command-and-control (C2) communications, ciphertext stealing ( CTS ) encryption, and mouse tracking. Also observed are "lighter, local versions" that are specifically focused on targeting banking customers in Mexico. Grandoreiro , active since 2016, has consistently evolved over time, taking efforts to stay undetected, while also widening its geog...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new variant of an Android banking trojan called TrickMo that comes packed with new capabilities to evade analysis and display fake login screens to capture victims' banking credentials. "The mechanisms include using malformed ZIP files in combination with JSONPacker," Cleafy security researchers Michele Roviello and Alessandro Strino said . "In addition, the application is installed through a dropper app that shares the same anti-analysis mechanisms." "These features are designed to evade detection and hinder cybersecurity professionals' efforts to analyze and mitigate the malware." TrickMo, first caught in the wild by CERT-Bund in September 2019, has a history of targeting Android devices, particularly targeting users in Germany to siphon one-time passwords (OTPs) and other two-factor authentication (2FA) codes to facilitate financial fraud. The mobile-focused malware is assessed to be the work of ...

Bank customers in the Central Asia region have been targeted by a new strain of Android malware codenamed Ajina.Banker since at least November 2023 with the goal of harvesting financial information and intercepting two-factor authentication (2FA) messages. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which discovered the threat in May 2024, said the malware is propagated via a network of Telegram channels set up by the threat actors under the guise of legitimate applications related to banking, payment systems, and government services, or everyday utilities. "The attacker has a network of affiliates motivated by financial gain, spreading Android banker malware that targets ordinary users," security researchers Boris Martynyuk, Pavel Naumov, and Anvar Anarkulov said . Targets of the ongoing campaign include countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. There is evidence to suggest that some aspects of...

Android device users in South Korea have emerged as a target of a new mobile malware campaign that delivers a new type of threat dubbed SpyAgent . The malware "targets mnemonic keys by scanning for images on your device that might contain them," McAfee Labs researcher SangRyol Ryu said in an analysis, adding the targeting footprint has broadened in scope to include the U.K. The campaign makes use of bogus Android apps that are disguised as seemingly legitimate banking, government facilities, streaming, and utility apps in an attempt to trick users into installing them. As many as 280 fake applications have been detected since the start of the year. It all starts with SMS messages bearing booby-trapped links that urge users to download the apps in question in the form of APK files hosted on deceptive sites. Once installed, they are designed to request intrusive permissions to collect data from the devices. This includes contacts, SMS messages, photos, and other device i...

Mobile users in Brazil are the target of a new malware campaign that delivers a new Android banking trojan named Rocinante. "This malware family is capable of performing keylogging using the Accessibility Service, and is also able to steal PII from its victims using phishing screens posing as different banks," Dutch security company ThreatFabric said . "Finally, it can use all this exfiltrated information to perform device takeover (DTO) of the device, by leveraging the accessibility service privileges to achieve full remote access on the infected device." Some of the prominent targets of the malware include financial institutions such as Itaú Shop, Santander, with the phony apps masquerading as Bradesco Prime and Correios Celular, among others - Livelo Pontos (com.resgatelivelo.cash) Correios Recarga (com.correiosrecarga.android) Bradesco Prime (com.resgatelivelo.cash) Módulo de Segurança (com.viberotion1414.app) Source code analysis of the malware has ...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered new Android malware that can relay victims' contactless payment data from physical credit and debit cards to an attacker-controlled device with the goal of conducting fraudulent operations. The Slovak cybersecurity company is tracking the novel malware as NGate, stating it observed the crimeware campaign targeting three banks in Czechia. The malware "has the unique ability to relay data from victims' payment cards, via a malicious app installed on their Android devices, to the attacker's rooted Android phone," researchers Lukáš Štefanko and Jakub Osmani said in an analysis. The activity is part of a broader campaign that has been found to target financial institutions in Czechia since November 2023 using malicious progressive web apps (PWAs) and WebAPKs. The first recorded use of NGate was in March 2024. The end goal of the attacks is to clone near-field communication (NFC) data from victims' physical payment ca...

A Spanish-speaking cybercrime group named GXC Team has been observed bundling phishing kits with malicious Android applications, taking malware-as-a-service (MaaS) offerings to the next level. Singaporean cybersecurity company Group-IB, which has been tracking the e-crime actor since January 2023, described the crimeware solution as a "sophisticated AI-powered phishing-as-a-service platform" capable of targeting users of more than 36 Spanish banks, governmental bodies, and 30 institutions worldwide. The phishing kit is priced anywhere between $150 and $900 a month, whereas the bundle including the phishing kit and Android malware is available on a subscription basis for about $500 per month. Targets of the campaign include users of Spanish financial institutions, as well as tax and governmental services, e-commerce, banks, and cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, and Brazil. As many as 288 phishing domains linked to the activity ha...

Retail banking institutions in Singapore have three months to phase out the use of one-time passwords (OTPs) for authentication purposes when signing into online accounts to mitigate the risk of phishing attacks. The decision was announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on July 9, 2024. "Customers who have activated their digital token on their mobile device will have to use their digital tokens for bank account logins via the browser or the mobile banking app," the MAS said . "The digital token will authenticate customers' login without the need for an OTP that scammers can steal, or trick customers into disclosing." The MAS is also urging customers to activate their digital tokens to safeguard against attacks that are designed to steal credentials and hijack their accounts for conducting financial fraud. "This measure provides customers with further protection against unauthorized access to ...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a new sophisticated Android malware called  FjordPhantom  that has been observed targeting users in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam since early September 2023. "Spreading primarily through messaging services, it combines app-based malware with social engineering to defraud banking customers," Oslo-based mobile app security firm Promon  said  in an analysis published Thursday. Propagated mainly via email, SMS, and messaging apps, attack chains trick recipients into downloading a purported banking app that comes fitted with legitimate features but also incorporates rogue components. Victims are then subjected to a social engineering technique akin to telephone-oriented attack delivery ( TOAD ), which involves calling a bogus call center to receive step-by-step instructions for running the app. A key characteristic of the malware that sets it apart from other banking trojans of its kind is th...

An updated version of an  Android banking trojan  called  Xenomorph  has set its sights on more than 35 financial institutions in the U.S. The campaign, according to Dutch security firm ThreatFabric, leverages phishing web pages that are designed to entice victims into installing malicious Android apps that target a broader list of apps than its predecessors. Some of the other targeted prominent countries targeted comprise Spain, Canada, Italy, and Belgium. "This new list adds dozens of new overlays for institutions from the United States, Portugal, and multiple crypto wallets, following a trend that has been consistent amongst all banking malware families in the last year," the company  said  in an analysis published Monday. Xenomorph is a variant of another banker malware called Alien which  first emerged  in 2022. Later that year, the financial malware was propagated via a new dropper dubbed  BugDrop , which bypassed security features ...