Octo banking android Trojan installed over 50,000 times
ThreatFabric specialists spoke about the Octo banking android Trojan, recently discovered in the Google Play Store. The malware that steals data from banking and other financial applications is called Octo and has been installed more than 50,000 times.
The researchers say that Octo is a modification of another malware for Android, ExobotCompact, which, in turn, is a “light” version of the well-known Exobot malware, whose source code became public in 2018. Experts say that the threat is also related to the Coper malware, which was discovered in 2021 and attacked users from Colombia, as well as European countries.
As with other banking trojans for Android, Octo hides in dropper apps whose main purpose is to deploy the payload embedded in them. A list of such applications used by several attackers to distribute Octo and Coper is given below:
- Pocket Screencaster (com.moh.screen)
- Fast Cleaner 2021 (vizeeva.fast.cleaner)
- Play Store (com.restthe71)
- Postbank Security (com.carbuildz)
- Pocket Screencaster (com.cutthousandjs)
- BAWAG PSK Security (com.frontwonder2), and
- Play Store app install (com.theseeye5).
These apps, posing as Play Store app installers, screen recorders, and financial tools, are distributed through both the official Google Play store and scam sites that warn users to urgently download a fake browser update.
Once installed, droppers are used as a conduit to launch Trojans, but not before asking users to turn on Accessibility Services.
As an interesting feature of Octo, experts call the use of the Android MediaProjection API, with the help of which attackers gain remote control over infected devices and can capture the content of the screen in real time. At the same time, the ultimate goal of hackers is “automatic initiation of fraudulent transactions and their authorization without the “manual” participation of the operator”, which allows criminals to carry out attacks on a large scale.
Other notable features of Octo include intercepting keystrokes, overlaying banking applications (to capture credentials), collecting contact information, and malware’s ability to bypass antivirus engines.
Octo is currently being sold on hack forums, including XSS, by an attacker using the nicknames Architect and goodluck. It is noted that although most XSS messages are written in Russian, almost all communication between the Octo developer and potential customers is in English.
Let me remind you that we also talked about Banking Trojan Chaes Installs Malicious Chrome Extensions, and also that Anubis Android Banker Targets Nearly 400 Financial App Users.
