Malicious Android Apps Pose as Google, Instagram, WhatsApp to Steal Credentials

Malicious Android apps masquerading as Google, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and X (formerly Twitter) have been observed to steal users' credentials from compromised devices. "This malware uses famous Android app icons to mislead users and trick victims into installing the malicious app on their devices," the SonicWall Capture Labs threat research team said in a recent report. The

ZLoader Malware Evolves with Anti-Analysis Trick from Zeus Banking Trojan

The authors behind the resurfaced ZLoader malware have added a feature that was originally present in the Zeus banking trojan that it's based on, indicating that it's being actively developed. "The latest version, 2.4.1.0, introduces a feature to prevent execution on machines that differ from the original infection," Zscaler ThreatLabz researcher Santiago

New 'Brokewell' Android Malware Spread Through Fake Browser Updates

Fake browser updates are being used to push a previously undocumented Android malware called Brokewell. "Brokewell is a typical modern banking malware equipped with both data-stealing and remote-control capabilities built into the malware," Dutch security firm ThreatFabric said in an analysis published Thursday. The malware is said to be in active development,

New Android Trojan 'SoumniBot' Evades Detection with Clever Tricks

A new Android trojan called SoumniBot has been detected in the wild targeting users in South Korea by leveraging weaknesses in the manifest extraction and parsing procedure. The malware is "notable for an unconventional approach to evading analysis and detection, namely obfuscation of the Android manifest," Kaspersky researcher Dmitry Kalinin said in a technical analysis.

Vultur Android Banking Trojan Returns with Upgraded Remote Control Capabilities

The Android banking trojan known as Vultur has resurfaced with a suite of new features and improved anti-analysis and detection evasion techniques, enabling its operators to remotely interact with a mobile device and harvest sensitive data. "Vultur has also started masquerading more of its malicious activity by encrypting its C2 communication, using multiple encrypted payloads that are decrypted

PixPirate Android Banking Trojan Using New Evasion Tactic to Target Brazilian Users

The threat actors behind the PixPirate Android banking trojan are leveraging a new trick to evade detection on compromised devices and harvest sensitive information from users in Brazil. The approach allows it to hide the malicious app’s icon from the home screen of the victim’s device, IBM said in a technical report published today. “Thanks to this new technique, during PixPirate reconnaissance

Banking Trojans Target Latin America and Europe Through Google Cloud Run

Cybersecurity researchers are warning about a spike in email phishing campaigns that are weaponizing the Google Cloud Run service to deliver various banking trojans such as Astaroth (aka Guildma), Mekotio, and Ousaban (aka Javali) to targets across Latin America (LATAM) and Europe. "The infection chains associated with these malware families feature the use of malicious

Chinese Hackers Using Deepfakes in Advanced Mobile Banking Malware Attacks

A Chinese-speaking threat actor codenamed GoldFactory has been attributed to the development of highly sophisticated banking trojans, including a previously undocumented iOS malware called GoldPickaxe that's capable of harvesting identity documents, facial recognition data, and intercepting SMS. "The GoldPickaxe family is available for both iOS and Android platforms,"

New Coyote Trojan Targets 61 Brazilian Banks with Nim-Powered Attack

Sixty-one banking institutions, all of them originating from Brazil, are the target of a new banking trojan called Coyote. "This malware utilizes the Squirrel installer for distribution, leveraging Node.js and a relatively new multi-platform programming language called Nim as a loader to complete its infection," Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said in a Thursday report. What

New Mispadu Banking Trojan Exploiting Windows SmartScreen Flaw

The threat actors behind the Mispadu banking Trojan have become the latest to exploit a now-patched Windows SmartScreen security bypass flaw to compromise users in Mexico. The attacks entail a new variant of the malware that was first observed in 2019, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 said in a report published last week. Propagated via phishing mails, Mispadu is a Delphi-based information stealer

Brazilian Feds Dismantle Grandoreiro Banking Trojan, Arresting Top Operatives

A Brazilian law enforcement operation has led to the arrest of several Brazilian operators in charge of the Grandoreiro malware. The Federal Police of Brazil said it served five temporary arrest warrants and 13 search and seizure warrants in the states of São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Pará, Goiás, and Mato Grosso. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET, which provided additional

Russian TrickBot Mastermind Gets 5-Year Prison Sentence for Cybercrime Spree

40-year-old Russian national Vladimir Dunaev has been sentenced to five years and four months in prison for his role in creating and distributing the TrickBot malware, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said. The development comes nearly two months after Dunaev pleaded guilty to committing computer fraud and identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. "

Chameleon Android Banking Trojan Variant Bypasses Biometric Authentication

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated version of an Android banking malware called Chameleon that has expanded its targeting to include users in the U.K. and Italy. "Representing a restructured and enhanced iteration of its predecessor, this evolved Chameleon variant excels in executing Device Takeover (DTO) using the accessibility service, all while expanding its targeted region,

SpyLoan Scandal: 18 Malicious Loan Apps Defraud Millions of Android Users

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered 18 malicious loan apps for Android on the Google Play Store that have been collectively downloaded over 12 million times. "Despite their attractive appearance, these services are in fact designed to defraud users by offering them high-interest-rate loans endorsed with deceitful descriptions, all while collecting their victims' personal and

Malvertising Campaign Targets Brazil's PIX Payment System with GoPIX Malware

The popularity of Brazil's PIX instant payment system has made it a lucrative target for threat actors looking to generate illicit profits using a new malware called GoPIX. Kaspersky, which has been tracking the active campaign since December 2022, said the attacks are pulled off using malicious ads that are served when potential victims search for "WhatsApp web" on search engines. "The

GoldDigger Android Trojan Targets Banking Apps in Asia Pacific Countries

A new Android banking trojan named GoldDigger has been found targeting several financial applications with an aim to siphon victims' funds and backdoor infected devices. "The malware targets more than 50 Vietnamese banking, e-wallet and crypto wallet applications," Group-IB said. "There are indications that this threat might be poised to extend its reach across the wider APAC region and to

Zanubis Android Banking Trojan Poses as Peruvian Government App to Target Users

An emerging Android banking trojan called Zanubis is now masquerading as a Peruvian government app to trick unsuspecting users into installing the malware. "Zanubis's main infection path is through impersonating legitimate Peruvian Android applications and then tricking the user into enabling the Accessibility permissions in order to take full control of the device," Kaspersky said in an

New Variant of Banking Trojan BBTok Targets Over 40 Latin American Banks

An active malware campaign targeting Latin America is dispensing a new variant of a banking trojan called BBTok, particularly users in Brazil and Mexico. "The BBTok banker has a dedicated functionality that replicates the interfaces of more than 40 Mexican and Brazilian banks, and tricks the victims into entering its 2FA code to their bank accounts or into entering their payment card number,"

Hook: New Android Banking Trojan That Expands on ERMAC's Legacy

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

European Bank Customers Targeted in SpyNote Android Trojan Campaign

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

Cybercriminals Renting WikiLoader to Target Italian Organizations with Banking Trojan

Organizations in Italy are the target of a new phishing campaign that leverages a new strain of malware called WikiLoader with an ultimate aim to install a banking trojan, stealer, and spyware referred to as Ursnif (aka Gozi). "It is a sophisticated downloader with the objective of installing a second malware payload," Proofpoint said in a technical report. "The malware uses multiple mechanisms

Anatsa Banking Trojan Targeting Users in US, UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

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 

Over 60K Adware Apps Posing as Cracked Versions of Popular Apps Target Android Devices

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

Brazilian Cybercriminals Using LOLBaS and CMD Scripts to Drain Bank Accounts

An unknown cybercrime threat actor has been observed targeting Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking victims to compromise online banking accounts in Mexico, Peru, and Portugal. "This threat actor employs tactics such as LOLBaS (living-off-the-land binaries and scripts), along with CMD-based scripts to carry out its malicious activities," the BlackBerry Research and Intelligence Team said in a report

Hackers Targeting Italian Corporate Banking Clients with New Web-Inject Toolkit DrIBAN

Italian corporate banking clients are the target of an ongoing financial fraud campaign that has been leveraging a new web-inject toolkit called drIBAN since at least 2019. "The main goal of drIBAN fraud operations is to infect Windows workstations inside corporate environments trying to alter legitimate banking transfers performed by the victims by changing the beneficiary and transferring

Nexus: A New Rising Android Banking Trojan Targeting 450 Financial Apps

An emerging Android banking trojan dubbed Nexus has already been adopted by several threat actors to target 450 financial applications and conduct fraud. "Nexus appears to be in its early stages of development," Italian cybersecurity firm Cleafy said in a report published this week. "Nexus provides all the main features to perform ATO attacks (Account Takeover) against banking portals and

Xenomorph Android Banking Trojan Returns with a New and More Powerful Variant

A new variant of the Android banking trojan named Xenomorph has surfaced in the wild, latest findings from ThreatFabric reveal. Named "Xenomorph 3rd generation" by the Hadoken Security Group, the threat actor behind the operation, the updated version comes with new features that allow it to perform financial fraud in a seamless manner. "This new version of the malware adds many new capabilities

PixPirate: New Android Banking Trojan Targeting Brazilian Financial Institutions

A new Android banking trojan has set its eyes on Brazilian financial institutions to commit fraud by leveraging the PIX payments platform. Italian cybersecurity company Cleafy, which discovered the malware between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, is tracking it under the name PixPirate. "PixPirate belongs to the newest generation of Android banking trojan, as it can perform ATS (

Emotet Malware Makes a Comeback with New Evasion Techniques

The Emotet malware operation has continued to refine its tactics in an effort to fly under the radar, while also acting as a conduit for other dangerous malware such as Bumblebee and IcedID. Emotet, which officially reemerged in late 2021 following a coordinated takedown of its infrastructure by authorities earlier that year, has continued to be a persistent threat that's distributed via

Android Users Beware: New Hook Malware with RAT Capabilities Emerges

The threat actor behind the BlackRock and ERMAC Android banking trojans has unleashed yet another malware for rent called Hook that introduces new capabilities to access files stored in the devices and create a remote interactive session. ThreatFabric, in a report shared with The Hacker News, characterized Hook as a novel ERMAC fork that's advertised for sale for $7,000 per month while featuring

GodFather Android Banking Trojan Targeting Users of Over 400 Banking and Crypto Apps

An Android banking trojan known as GodFather is being used to target users of more than 400 banking and cryptocurrency apps spanning across 16 countries. This includes 215 banks, 94 crypto wallet providers, and 110 crypto exchange platforms serving users in the U.S., Turkey, Spain, Italy, Canada, and Canada, among others, Singapore-headquartered Group-IB said in a report shared with The Hacker

FBI-Wanted Leader of the Notorious Zeus Botnet Gang Arrested in Geneva

A Ukrainian national who has been wanted by the U.S for over a decade has been arrested by Swiss authorities for his role in a notorious cybercriminal ring that stole millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts using malware called Zeus. Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, who went by online pseu­do­nyms "tank" and "father," is alleged to have been involved in the day-to-day operations of the

These Dropper Apps On Play Store Targeting Over 200 Banking and Cryptocurrency Wallets

Five malicious dropper Android apps with over 130,000 cumulative installations have been discovered on the Google Play Store distributing banking trojans like SharkBot and Vultur, which are capable of stealing financial data and performing on-device fraud. "These droppers continue the unstopping evolution of malicious apps sneaking to the official store," Dutch mobile security firm ThreatFabric

Fake Antivirus and Cleaner Apps Caught Installing SharkBot Android Banking Trojan

The notorious Android banking trojan known as SharkBot has once again made an appearance on the Google Play Store by masquerading as antivirus and cleaner apps. "This new dropper doesn't rely on Accessibility permissions to automatically perform the installation of the dropper Sharkbot malware," NCC Group's Fox-IT said in a report. "Instead, this new version asks the victim to install the

New Evidence Links Raspberry Robin Malware to Dridex and Russian Evil Corp Hackers

Researchers have identified functional similarities between a malicious component used in the Raspberry Robin infection chain and a Dridex malware loader, further strengthening the operators' connections to the Russia-based Evil Corp group. The findings suggest that "Evil Corp is likely using Raspberry Robin infrastructure to carry out its attacks," IBM Security X-Force researcher Kevin Henson 

New Grandoreiro Banking Malware Campaign Targeting Spanish Manufacturers

Organizations in the Spanish-speaking nations of Mexico and Spain are in the crosshairs of a new campaign designed to deliver the Grandoreiro banking trojan.  "In this campaign, the threat actors impersonate government officials from the Attorney General's Office of Mexico City and from the Public Ministry in the form of spear-phishing emails in order to lure victims to download and execute '

SOVA Android Banking Trojan Returns With New Capabilities and Targets

The SOVA Android banking trojan is continuing to be actively developed with upgraded capabilities to target no less than 200 mobile applications, including banking apps and crypto exchanges and wallets, up from 90 apps when it started out. That's according to the latest findings from Italian cybersecurity firm Cleafy, which found newer versions of the malware sporting functionality to intercept

Roaming Mantis Financial Hackers Targeting Android and iPhone Users in France

The mobile threat campaign tracked as Roaming Mantis has been linked to a new wave of compromises directed against French mobile phone users, months after it expanded its targeting to include European countries. No fewer than 70,000 Android devices are said to have been infected as part of the active malware operation, Sekoia said in a report published last week. Attack chains involving Roaming

MaliBot: A New Android Banking Trojan Spotted in the Wild

A new strain of Android malware has been spotted in the wild targeting online banking and cryptocurrency wallet customers in Spain and Italy, just weeks after a coordinated law enforcement operation dismantled FluBot. The information stealing trojan, codenamed MaliBot by F5 Labs, is as feature-rich as its counterparts, allowing it to steal credentials and cookies, bypass multi-factor

Latest Mobile Malware Report Suggests On-Device Fraud is on the Rise

An analysis of the mobile threat landscape in 2022 shows that Spain and Turkey are the most targeted countries for malware campaigns, even as a mix of new and existing banking trojans are increasingly targeting Android devices to conduct on-device fraud (ODF). Other frequently targeted countries include Poland, Australia, the U.S., Germany, the U.K., Italy, France, and Portugal. "The most