A dangerous new Android malware strain has been spotted doing the rounds and can steal money from dozens of banking apps.
This alarm was raised by cybersecurity researchers Group-IB, who noticed the new campaign in June this year. In this campaign, unnamed threat actors delivered a piece of malware called GoldDigger. The malware was delivered via two separate apps: one that impersonated a Vietnamese government portal and another that pretended to be an energy company.
The attack vector itself was not discovered, but researchers suspect that the attackers contacted victims through social media channels, email messages, and other common methods. Through these channels, they navigated victims to at least a dozen fake Google Play websites, where they were offered to download the apps.
Accessibility and other red flags
Once on the device, the apps would do the usual: ask for the accessibility permissions. This is also probably the best way to spot a malicious app, if it requires excessive permissions. If the victim grants this permission, GoldDigger will start digging up sensitive user information, including passwords.
It then searches for the apps, e-wallet apps and cryptocurrency wallet apps of the 51 Vietnamese financial organizations.
If GoldDigger finds these, GoldDigger will track down and exfiltrate the credentials for them, essentially giving the attackers unhindered access to the victim’s funds.
One thing that makes GoldDigger unique, the researchers further explained, is Virbox Protector, a piece of integrated software used for obfuscation and encryption. While Virbox Protector itself is generally legitimate, here it is used for nefarious purposes and makes the job of cybersecurity researchers much more difficult.
There’s no way to know exactly how many people fell for the trick and lost their money, but the warning is always the same: only download apps from legitimate sources and always be wary of links and attachments that come through the mail.