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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Mobile Malcoders Pay to (Google) Play

Summary: An Android malware developer was buying verified Google Play developer accounts for $100 each on a semi-private Underweb forum, well above Google's $25 registration fee, and also sold an SMS-intercepting malware kit called Perkele targeting customers of Citibank, HSBC, ING and 66 other financial institutions across ten countries. Perkele works alongside PC malware Web injects that prompt victims to install a fake mobile security certificate, and sells for $1,000 per single-bank build or $15,000 for a universal kit, while Kaspersky reported mobile malware rose more than 780 percent in 2012 over 2011, with 99 percent targeting Android.

Why it matters: The targeted banks rely on SMS as a second factor, and Perkele exists specifically to intercept every incoming text on the infected phone - so the authentication step those banks count on is the exact thing being defeated, at a $1,000 entry price per institution.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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