new Trojan malware infecting
Android phones is capable of
intercepting inbound text messages
and forwarding them to hackers. The
malware, called
Android.Pincer.2.origin, is
particularly troubling because it can
easily thwart the two-step verification
systems employed by online banking,
email and social media accounts.
The malware, discovered by Russian
antivirus company Doctor Web ,
spreads as a fake security certificate
that tricks users into thinking they
need to install it on their Android
phones. After installation, users will
get a notification that installation was
successful, but the malware won’t do
any other noticeable activities. It will
instead run in the background,
connecting to a remote server to send
information about the user's Android
device, including model and serial
number, carrier information, phone
number and operating system.
[[nid:1278557]][[nid:1278553]]
[[nid:1278559]]
Once connected, hackers can send the
malware instructions to intercept and
forward messages from specific phone
numbers, send new text messages,
display a message on the Android
device’s screen, and other deceptive
activities.
The ability to specify a phone number
from which to intercept messages
allows a hacker to use the malware for
targeted attacks, stealing only specific
messages that contain valuable
information. For example, the hacker
could set the malware to forward texts
received from banking services.
Two-step verification systems often
use cellphone messaging to verify a
user’s identity. The user registers his
or her phone number with the service,
and when they attempt to log in to
their account, the service sends a text
message with the password. The user
must then use this password to
complete the login.
But if a hacker has access to cellphone
messages and can set the malware to
forward every message sent from
Twitter or a bank, they could get that
password and access to the account.
Stay on the lookout and be careful to
install software only from trusted
sources.

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