Stop using these Android apps right now! They may be harmful to your phone
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You have access to hundreds of thousands of apps on your Android phone, but not all of them have good intentions. While some engage in hijacking-related activities, some apps may just be siphoning off your private information. Google time and again removes malicious apps from the Google Play Store, but because of the nature of Android, it is easy to replicate them. A new report has now highlighted at least five apps that may be detrimental to your phone and may be stealing your sensitive information.
According to Amsterdam-based cybersecurity firm, Threat Fabric, five Android apps that look like regular apps used for productivity-related tasks may be stealing your data outside of your knowledge. These Trojan malware-based dropper apps could be siphoning off users’ login information, account number, and bank-related details from your phone. They use a new banking Trojan to steal your banking information without you noticing them.
Essentially, malware droppers masquerade as garden-variety apps. Think of them as regular apps that are benign because initially, they do not cause harm to your phone, which is also why malware-checking platforms give them a free pass. But when these apps notify you that there is an update ready to be installed, that is when they begin installing malware on your phone. Following are the apps that you should immediately delete from your phone:
— File Manager Small, Lite
— My Finances Tracker
— Zetter Authentication
— Codice Fiscale 2022
— Recover Audio, Images & Videos
As pointed out by the team of researchers, Sharkbot, the Trojan malware behind these apps, has already made its way to markets, including the US, the UK, Austria, Australia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland. While the first two apps have around 1,000 downloads on the Google Play Store, the last three have over 100,000 downloads, which means they have targeted more people.
The report cites the working process of the Codice Fiscale app that seems harmless while sitting in the Google Play Store. But when you open the app on your phone, it checks the country where the SIM card used on your handset is registered. Since this app is meant for Italy, it checks whether your code is for Italy or not. If not, no malicious behaviour would take place.
However, if your SIM is registered in Italy, the app would open a fake listing that looks like that of the app inside the Play Store with the same name. It would suggest that there is an update available for the app. Since the entire mechanism is crafty, a user usually falls for this bogus listing and taps the Update button. That is when the app begins downloading malware to your phone.
“Such way of distribution of Android banking Trojans is very dangerous as victims may stay unsuspecting for a long time and may not alert their bank about suspicious transactions made without them knowledge. Thus it is very important to take actions on the organization side to detect such malicious apps and their payloads as well as suspicious behavior happening on customer’s device,” ThreatFabric said in its report.
The post Stop using these Android apps right now! They may be harmful to your phone appeared first on BGR India.
<img src="" title="Stop using these Android apps right now! They may be harmful to your phone" />
You have access to hundreds of thousands of apps on your Android phone, but not all of them have good intentions. While some engage in hijacking-related activities, some apps may just be siphoning off your private information. Google time and again removes malicious apps from the Google Play Store, but because of the nature of Android, it is easy to replicate them. A new report has now highlighted at least five apps that may be detrimental to your phone and may be stealing your sensitive information.
According to Amsterdam-based cybersecurity firm, Threat Fabric, five Android apps that look like regular apps used for productivity-related tasks may be stealing your data outside of your knowledge. These Trojan malware-based dropper apps could be siphoning off users’ login information, account number, and bank-related details from your phone. They use a new banking Trojan to steal your banking information without you noticing them.
Essentially, malware droppers masquerade as garden-variety apps. Think of them as regular apps that are benign because initially, they do not cause harm to your phone, which is also why malware-checking platforms give them a free pass. But when these apps notify you that there is an update ready to be installed, that is when they begin installing malware on your phone. Following are the apps that you should immediately delete from your phone:
— File Manager Small, Lite
— My Finances Tracker
— Zetter Authentication
— Codice Fiscale 2022
— Recover Audio, Images & Videos
As pointed out by the team of researchers, Sharkbot, the Trojan malware behind these apps, has already made its way to markets, including the US, the UK, Austria, Australia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland. While the first two apps have around 1,000 downloads on the Google Play Store, the last three have over 100,000 downloads, which means they have targeted more people.
The report cites the working process of the Codice Fiscale app that seems harmless while sitting in the Google Play Store. But when you open the app on your phone, it checks the country where the SIM card used on your handset is registered. Since this app is meant for Italy, it checks whether your code is for Italy or not. If not, no malicious behaviour would take place.
However, if your SIM is registered in Italy, the app would open a fake listing that looks like that of the app inside the Play Store with the same name. It would suggest that there is an update available for the app. Since the entire mechanism is crafty, a user usually falls for this bogus listing and taps the Update button. That is when the app begins downloading malware to your phone.
“Such way of distribution of Android banking Trojans is very dangerous as victims may stay unsuspecting for a long time and may not alert their bank about suspicious transactions made without them knowledge. Thus it is very important to take actions on the organization side to detect such malicious apps and their payloads as well as suspicious behavior happening on customer’s device,” ThreatFabric said in its report.
The post Stop using these Android apps right now! They may be harmful to your phone appeared first on BGR India.
<img src="” title=”Stop using these Android apps right now! They may be harmful to your phone” />
You have access to hundreds of thousands of apps on your Android phone, but not all of them have good intentions. While some engage in hijacking-related activities, some apps may just be siphoning off your private information. Google time and again removes malicious apps from the Google Play Store, but because of the nature of Android, it is easy to replicate them. A new report has now highlighted at least five apps that may be detrimental to your phone and may be stealing your sensitive information.
According to Amsterdam-based cybersecurity firm, Threat Fabric, five Android apps that look like regular apps used for productivity-related tasks may be stealing your data outside of your knowledge. These Trojan malware-based dropper apps could be siphoning off users’ login information, account number, and bank-related details from your phone. They use a new banking Trojan to steal your banking information without you noticing them.
Essentially, malware droppers masquerade as garden-variety apps. Think of them as regular apps that are benign because initially, they do not cause harm to your phone, which is also why malware-checking platforms give them a free pass. But when these apps notify you that there is an update ready to be installed, that is when they begin installing malware on your phone. Following are the apps that you should immediately delete from your phone:
— File Manager Small, Lite
— My Finances Tracker
— Zetter Authentication
— Codice Fiscale 2022
— Recover Audio, Images & Videos
As pointed out by the team of researchers, Sharkbot, the Trojan malware behind these apps, has already made its way to markets, including the US, the UK, Austria, Australia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland. While the first two apps have around 1,000 downloads on the Google Play Store, the last three have over 100,000 downloads, which means they have targeted more people.
The report cites the working process of the Codice Fiscale app that seems harmless while sitting in the Google Play Store. But when you open the app on your phone, it checks the country where the SIM card used on your handset is registered. Since this app is meant for Italy, it checks whether your code is for Italy or not. If not, no malicious behaviour would take place.
However, if your SIM is registered in Italy, the app would open a fake listing that looks like that of the app inside the Play Store with the same name. It would suggest that there is an update available for the app. Since the entire mechanism is crafty, a user usually falls for this bogus listing and taps the Update button. That is when the app begins downloading malware to your phone.
“Such way of distribution of Android banking Trojans is very dangerous as victims may stay unsuspecting for a long time and may not alert their bank about suspicious transactions made without them knowledge. Thus it is very important to take actions on the organization side to detect such malicious apps and their payloads as well as suspicious behavior happening on customer’s device,” ThreatFabric said in its report.
The post Stop using these Android apps right now! They may be harmful to your phone appeared first on BGR India.
