Here’s how you can stay safe from the Android Banking Trojan that targets banking apps

Credit to Author: Rajib Singha| Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2018 13:37:12 +0000

If our readers can recollect, Quick Heal Security Labs had released an important advisory about an Android banking Trojan that is known to target about 232 banking apps. As a continuation of the post, here we will help you understand how you can protect yourself from this malware by following some simple security measures. First, a little recap The Android banking Trojan that we are talking about was detected by Quick Heal Security Labs as Android.banker.A2f8a (a.k.a Android.banker.A9480). This is what the malware does: > Once inside, it starts checking apps that are installed on the infected device. > During its search, the malware particularly looks for 232 banking apps (these also include some cryptocurrency apps). > If the malware finds any of these apps on the device… It shows a fake notification on behalf of the targeted app If the user clicks on this notification, the malware shows a fake login screen which looks like the actual login screen of the original app And if the user is tricked into giving their login credentials (such as Internet banking login ID and password) on this fake login screen, the data goes to the attacker How does this Android banking Trojan spread? The malware is known to have spread through a fake Adobe Flash Player app on third-party app stores. How can you stay safe from this malware Do not download apps from third-party app stores or by clicking on links that come to you via SMSs or emails. Always keep the ‘Unknown Sources’ disabled on your phone. Doing so prevents installation of apps from unknown sources. You can find this option under Settings > Security on your phone. Install a reliable mobile security app that can block fake and malicious apps. Carefully read the permissions asked by an app before installing it. If the app asks for unnecessary permissions, better avoid it. Always keep your device OS and apps up-to-date. An outdated OS and apps are more likely to be targeted by attackers. How can Quick Heal help you stay safe from this Android banking Trojan? Quick Heal Total Security app significantly reduces threats to payment apps such as banking apps and mobile wallets. SafePe is an important addition to this app that has been specifically designed to counter mobile banking and payment threats such as the Android banking Trojan discussed in this post. How SafePe makes your mobile payments safe and secure • It ensures your phone and the network it’s using is safe when you are making an online transaction on a banking or online shopping app. • It ensures your phone is free from any banking Trojan and is not infected by any data-stealing malware such as keyloggers or spyware. • It proactively detects infection on your phone or tampering to the phone by any kind of advanced malware and alerts you before you make any online transaction. • It checks if your smartphone is rooted or not. A rooted device can be misused by attackers to gain high-level privileges to carry out damaging activities such as stealing confidential personal or financial information. • It also checks if you are on a secure website (‘HTTPS’) or not while you are making any payment. SafePe takes all necessary steps that are required to mitigate several threats while you shop, pay, and bank online on your mobile phone. You may learn more about how Quick Heal Total Security app protects your Android smartphone from malware, online and banking threats here. The post Here’s how you can stay safe from the Android Banking Trojan that targets banking apps appeared first on Quick Heal Technologies Security Blog | Latest computer security news, tips, and advice.
http://blogs.quickheal.com/feed/