NEWS
IBS Journal February 2018
11
Russian banking malware intercepts SMS messages and steals data
A
new mobile banking malware in Russia has been found taking over victims’ SMS functionality, allowing crooks to intercept messages from the mobile owner’s bank.
Dubbed FakeBank by researchers at Trend Micro, the malware was shown to pose as a series of SMS management applications. It has so far targeted Sberbank, Leto Bank and VTB24 Bank, though the malware has also been found in China.
The malicious app can control an infected user’s open and close network function and also silently connect to the internet. It also inspects the device for anti-virus software and if detected, it exits without executing any actions, helping it to fly under the radar.
FakeBank steals information and uploads it to a command and control server, including users’ phone numbers, a list of installed banking apps, the balance on any linked bank card and even location information.
To ensure that its data siphoning is uninterrupted, the malware forbids the user from opening device settings. Some samples of the malware also granted itself admin privileges, allowing for further data scrying.
FakeBank will then replace the default SMS management program with its own and hide the icon. Any verification messages from the bank to a user can then be intercepted and removed. The malware can even call phone numbers, send specified SMS and steal call logs and contact lists.
“All this access to the device’s SMS gives the malware an avenue to silently steal money from users’ bank accounts,” wrote Jordan Pang and Song Wang, researchers at Trend Micro.
“Since users bind their bank accounts to their device and receive notifications on the same device, the malware can intercept sensitive account information. It can then reset bank account passwords through received security code messages and start transferring money.”
The malware prevents the victim from opening their legitimate banking app, which Trend Micro puts down to the creator being “very familiar” with the bank message format and transfer process.
The FakeBank malware can intercept bank messages
“Users should be wary of downloading apps from untrusted sources,” wrote Pang and Wang. “And devices should also be equipped with comprehensive mobile security that can mitigate mobile malware.”
Trojan’s code sale in forum raise concerns about new wave of attacks
T
he creator of the Exobot malware, known as ‘Marcher’, sold its source code on an online hacking forum as he retired from the scene, raising fears about new strains of
malware being created in the near future.
This particular malware was first detected in 2016, with various iterations developed since upgrading its capabilities. Many of these versions had been rented out to hackers by the original creator.
The sale took place in December, when the creator under the username ‘android’ advertised it on a hacking forum making it available for a limited number of buyers. According to SyfLabs mobile security researcher Cengiz Han Sahin, the hacker bragged
about becoming “very rich” after the sale. There has been reports in the past about a proliferation of malware after sales like this.
“Less than a month after the actor started selling the Exobot source code, new campaigns in Austria, England, Netherlands and Turkey were discovered,” Sahin said in a blog. “During our investigation, we were surprised to discover that the bot count (number of infected devices) in Turkey was three times higher than those of botnets targeting other countries.”
SyfLabs detected an Exobot campaign in Turkey last month, with 4400 devices infected so far. Last year, the banking Trojan BankBot wreaked havoc in the Google Play Store. The recent Exobot sale could create a similar scenario.
www.ibsintelligence.com
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