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Kaspersky researchers continuously monitor the mobile threat landscape to keep users informed of the most important trends. Recently they came across a malicious campaign on the Google Play Store, with more than 4.8 million downloads of infected applications in general.
Over the past two years, fraudsters have imitated over 190 legitimate applications, from flashlights to mini-games, to distribute the Harly Trojan and subscribe users to paid services without their consent.
As soon as a user launches the application, the Trojan starts collecting information about their device and mobile network. The user’s phone switches to a mobile network and then the Trojan asks the C&C server to configure the list of subscriptions that must be subscribed. The Trojan opens the subscription address in an invisible window, and enters the user’s already acquired phone number, taps the necessary buttons and enters the confirmation code from a text message. The result is that the user receives paid subscriptions without realizing it.
Another notable feature of this Trojan is that it can subscribe not only when the process is protected by a text message code, but also when it is protected by a phone call: the Trojan makes a call to a specific number and confirms the subscription.
“Although official stores are carefully controlled, moderators cannot always catch these apps before they are published. With these applications, it is even more difficult to recognize a potential threat, because in reality they do everything they are proposed to do.
Reading user reviews can help, but it can also be unfounded. That’s why we strongly recommend users to install a reliable security solution that prevents downloading of dangerous programs.”
Tatyana Shishkova, security expert at Kaspersky.
To protect yourself from malicious applications, Kaspersky experts also recommend:
- Do not download mods from suspicious websites, or illegal software. Attackers are well aware of people’s craving for everything free, and they exploit it through malware hidden in cracks, cheats and mods.
- Install an antivirus solution on your phone, such as Surfshark Antivirus.
- Don’t turn off your antivirus when you’re playing. O Kaspersky Security Cloud’s gaming mode prevents the antivirus from consuming too many system resources during a game. It doesn’t have any impact on performance or frame rate, but it still takes care of security.
- Reinstalling the browser or tweaking the settings will not get rid of the malware. First, the user needs to identify the malicious application. The device will display a complete list of apps in settings, (Settings → Apps & notifications → Show all apps). Delete the application from this list and the malware should be gone.
- Install applications responsibly. Check app and distribution account reputation before downloading an app.
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