Mobile threats

In the middle of May a unique encryption Trojan that works on Android went on sale on a virus writers’ forum. A few days later on May 18, we saw the appearance of a new mobile encryptor Trojan in the wild that we detect as Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Pletor.a.

Recently Kaspersky Lab intercepted a new Trojan-Banker, it was detected as Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Basti.a. This android app is disguised as a normal WeChat app on the phone.

Experts recently discovered a scam antivirus app on Google Play going by the name of Virus Shield. It was followed by a series of other similar fake apps. Early last week, for instance, we detected two rather interesting fake antivirus programs.

Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakeInst.ef, targets users in 66 countries, including the US. This is the first case we have found involving an active SMS Trojan in the United States.

According to KSN data, Kaspersky Lab products blocked a total of 1131000866 malicious attacks on computers and mobile devices in the first quarter of 2014.

The situation surrounding attempted mobile malware infections is constantly changing, and I’d like to write about one recent trend, Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.Stealer.a.

So our recent discovery of Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.Waller.a highlighted a new get-rich technique that not only sent a premium SMS but also saw the malware attempt to steal money from a QIWI electronic wallet.

This year’s party reported on cases where smartphone distribution channels pre-install malware into Android mobiles before selling them on to unwitting customers.

Now, yet another technique from Windows Trojans has been implemented in malware for Android: for the first time we have detected an Android Trojan that uses a domain in the .onion pseudo zone as a C&C.

The mobile malware sector is growing rapidly both technologically and structurally. It is safe to say that today’s cybercriminal is no longer a lone hacker but part of a serious business operation.

The Olympic Games are a huge event. And scammers are obviously going to try and exploit the interest they generate.

In 2014 we expect significant growth in the number of threats related to economic and domestic cyber-espionage, with cyber-mercenaries/cyber-detectives playing an active role in such attacks. The full report is available here

In 2014 we expect significant growth in the number of threats related to economic and domestic cyber-espionage.

In 2013 security issues around mobiles have reached new heights and attained a new level of maturity in terms of both quality and quantity.

Once again, it’s time for us to deliver our customary retrospective of the key events that have defined the threat landscape in 2013.