A
newly detailed Android banking Trojan is capable of performing new
types of attacks by gaining root privileges on the infected devices,
Kaspersky Lab researchers warn.
Dubbed Tordow and detected as Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Tordow.a,
the threat is being distributed via infected popular applications
outside of the official Google Play app store. The Trojan’s authors hide
it inside modified versions of VKontakte, DrugVokrug, Pokemon Go,
Telegram, Odnoklassniki, or Subway Surf Android apps, researchers say.
The modified programs behave as the original ones, but also include the malicious functionality
added to them. In this particular case, the embedded code decrypts a
file that was added in the app’s resources and launches it. The file
connects to the attacker’s server and downloads the main Trojan module,
which also contains links to several more files.
Kaspersky’s Anton Kivva explains
that the main part of Tordow links to an exploit to gain root
privileges on the compromised device and to a new version of malware, as
well as to other files, depending on the attacker’s intentions. What’s
more, each of the downloaded components can download and install
additional modules, which could eventually result in the device being
remotely controlled by the Tordow owners for various malicious purposes.
For
a banking Trojan as Tordow, this expands its set of capabilities well
beyond banking malware attacks and provides cybercriminals with a full
set of functions for stealing money from users. The malicious app can
send, steal, and delete SMS messages; can record, redirect, and block calls; can check user’s balance; steal contacts; make calls; and even change the command and control (C&C) server.
Moreover,
it can download and run files, can install and remove applications, or
block the device and display a web page specified by a malicious server
(behavior typically seen in ransomware). The malware was also designed
to generate and send a list of files on the device, to send and rename
files, and to reboot the phone.
Also
unusual to a banking Trojan is Tordow’s use of a popular exploit pack
to gain root privileges on the infected device, which offers it a new
attack vector and unique features, Kaspersky says. For example, the
Trojan can install one of its modules in the system folder, thus
hindering removal attempts.
More
importantly, the Trojan allows the attackers to steal the database of
the default Android browser and the Google Chrome browser. This means
that Tordow’s authors gain access to the user logins and passwords
stored in the browser, as well as to browsing history, cookies, and even
to bank card details.
On
top of that, the Trojan’s superuser rights allow its authors to steal
almost any file in the system, including photos and documents, or files
that contain mobile app account data. Thus, Tordow is no longer
targeting only banking information, but can steal huge amounts of
critical user data from the infected devices.
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