New Android malware "Faketoken" steals users' data from cab-booking apps

Cyber attacks seem to be on the rise and while we have already heard about WannaCry and others in the past few months, now a new security threat has appeared.

As per Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab, a new modification of notorious mobile banking Trojan "Faketoken" has resurfaced in the online domain. This new type of malware is able to steal credentials from popular taxi applications and ride-sharing apps.

"The new version of 'Faketoken' performs live tracking of apps and, when the user runs a specified app, overlays this with its phishing window to steal the bank card details of the victim," Kaspersky Lab said in a statement.

What's frightening is that this trojan virus features an identical interface as the taxi apps, even with the same color schemes and logos, and it further creates an instant and completely invisible overlay.

"The fact that cyber criminals have expanded their activities from financial applications to other areas, including taxi and ride-sharing services, means that the developers of these services may want to start paying more attention to the protection of their users," said Viktor Chebyshev, Security Expert at Kaspersky Lab.

"The banking industry is already familiar with fraud schemes and tricks, and its previous response involved the implementation of security technologies in apps that significantly reduced the risk of theft of critical financial data," Chebyshev added.

According to Kaspersky Lab, the new version of "Faketoken" has targeted mostly Russian users but they believe the geography of attacks could easily be extended in the future.

Talking more about the "Faketoken" virus, the security firm has said that it steals all incoming SMS messages by redirecting them to its command and control servers, allowing criminals to get access to one-time verification passwords sent by a bank, or other messages sent by taxi and ride-sharing services. And that's not it. Among other things, the malware also monitors users' calls, records them and transmits the data to the command and control servers.

Kaspersky researchers have also detected 'Faketoken' attacks on other popular mobile applications, such as travel and hotel booking apps, apps for traffic fine payments, Android Pay and the Google Play Market.

Hopefully, an immediate solution will be created in order to combat this dangerous virus.