Fake banking Android apps have become more frequent nowadays. ESET research warns of the high risks involved with this not being paid attention to. It’s important to be careful when downloading applications.
These mobile apps can appear to be authentic banking apps. Fraudsters use these to steal bank account access information or money. Fake apps may not be all that sophisticated, but they do have certain strategic advantages that make them more effective than malware of a much higher level.
ESET research has concluded thusly, after carefully analysing the current situation about banking malware in Android.
The title of the reasearch paper in question is “Android banking malware: Sophisticated Trojans vs. Fake banking apps”. Fake banking apps and sophisticated Trojans are two of the most prevalent types of Android malware. In the paper there is also information about the characteristics of these two types of malware.
The most important advantage of these fake applications is that they can mimic genuine banking applications almost flawlessly. One of the primary reasons that fake banking apps are so dangerous is because they trick users into thinking of submitting their login data are being to a legitimate website. On the contrary, in the case of a Trojan, users become more easily suspicious, because of the diplay of annoying requests for access. Detection of advanced banking Trojans is easier due to their techniques automatically triggering detection on various security issues.
ESET recommendations
To stay safe from malware, ESET experts recommend that users:
Keep their Android device up to date and use a reliable mobile security solution.
Avoid using unofficial stores to download apps, if possible. Always have the “install apps from unknown sources” feature disabled on their device.
Before installing an app from Google Play, always check the rating, review content, number of downloads and in-app access requests. Constantly monitor the behavior of the app after it has been installed.
Only proceed to download apps for banking or other financial services if they are linked to the official website of the bank or financial institution.
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Author: PC-GR
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