KASPERSKY Lab ZAO said it has recently discovered a new malicious software (malware) that aims to victimize Android users regarding financial matters.
Kaspersky Lab USA staff Roman Unuchek said they found out that Asacub malware has been used as a tool by criminals and has links with a Windows-based spyware called CoreBot.
The domain used by Asacub’s command and control center is registered to the same person as tens of domains that were used by Corebot, according to Unuchek, Kaspersky senior malware analyst. It is therefore highly likely that these two types of malware are being developed or used by the same gang, who see huge value and criminal gain in exploiting mobile banking users,” Unuchek was quoted as saying in a statement.
“Based on current trends, we can assume that in 2016, the development and prevalence of mobile banking malware will continue to grow and account for an even greater share of malware attacks. Users need to be extra vigilant to ensure they don’t become the next victim.”
Kaspersky also discovered that Asacub is an information stealing malware. However, other versions of the Trojan are targeting users of online banking in Russia, Ukraine and the US.
With the increase of usage of smartphones for mobile commerce, Kaspersky said cybercriminals exploited the situation in 2015 by focusing their efforts on developing malicious financial programs for mobile devices. For the first time, a mobile banking Trojan entered the Top-10 most prevalent malicious programs targeting finances. The Asacub Trojan is yet another example of this worrying trend.
The first version of the Asacub Trojan, discovered in June 2015, was capable of stealing the contact lists, browser history, list of installed apps, sending SMS messages to given numbers and also blocking the screen of an infected device—all standard functions for a typical information-stealing Trojan.
Within just one week, Kaspersky Lab identified more than 6,500 attempts to infect users with the malware making it one of the 5 most popular mobile Trojans of that week, and the most popular Trojan-Banker.