Wednesday, May 14, 2025
HomeMalwareMalicious Weather App Found on Google Play that Remotely lock and Unlock...

Malicious Weather App Found on Google Play that Remotely lock and Unlock your Android Device

Published on

SIEM as a Service

Follow Us on Google News

Malicious Weather App has been discovered by ESET Malware Research Team in google play store which can spy your Android phone and easily lock / unlock your Phone by break the existing pattern/Password.

This application Primarily having their mobile banking app compromised.Detected by ESET as Trojan.Android/Spy.Banker.HU, the malware was a trojanized version of the otherwise benign weather forecast application Good Weather.

This app published in  the store on February 4th 2017.ESET mention in their Blog ,that they discovered in very short time period since the app has uploaded in google play.

- Advertisement - Google News

The trojan has been targeting 22 Turkish banking apps and has so far been downloaded by about 5,000 victims.

Once downloaded the malware has the ability to lock, unlock and intercept texts from the device, as well as, deliver the local weather. The malware accesses the victim’s banking credentials with its command-and-control server and is able to avoid the bank’s two-factor authentication system because it controls all text functionality.

 

http://www.welivesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/descripcion-good-weather.png                                 Trojanized Good Weather app onGoogle Play

How does it works

According to ESET Explained the working Functions  as “After the app is installed by an unsuspecting user, its weather-themed icon disappears. The infected device then displays a fake system screen requesting device administrator rights on behalf of fictitious “System update”. By enabling these rights, the victim allows the malware to Change the screen-unlock password and Lock the screen. “

                       legitimate Good Weather icon, Red – malicious version

ESET explined in Blog Post ,

Together with the permission to intercept text messages obtained during the installation, the trojan is now all set to start its malicious activity. Users who are not alarmed at this point might be pleased with the new weather widget they can add to their home screens. However, in the background, the malware is getting to work sharing device information with its C&C server.

ESET Researcher’s Said ,The trojan displays a fake login screen once the user runs one of the targeted banking apps and sends entered data to the attacker. Thanks to the permission to intercept the victims’ text messages, the malware is also able to bypass SMS-based two-factor authentication.

As for the device locking, we suspect this function enters the picture when cashing out the compromised bank account, to keep the fraudulent activity hidden from the user. Once locked out, all victims can do is wait until the malware receives a command to unlock the device.

Targeted applications Discovered  By ESET

com.garanti.cepsubesi
com.garanti.cepbank
com.pozitron.iscep
com.softtech.isbankasi
com.teb
com.akbank.android.apps.akbank_direkt
com.akbank.softotp
com.akbank.android.apps.akbank_direkt_tablet
com.ykb.androidtablet
com.ykb.android.mobilonay
com.finansbank.mobile.cepsube
finansbank.enpara
com.tmobtech.halkbank
biz.mobinex.android.apps.cep_sifrematik
com.vakifbank.mobile
com.ingbanktr.ingmobil
com.tmob.denizbank
tr.com.sekerbilisim.mbank
com.ziraat.ziraatmobil
com.intertech.mobilemoneytransfer.activity
com.kuveytturk.mobil
com.magiclick.odeabank

Also Read :

Balaji
Balaji
BALAJI is an Ex-Security Researcher (Threat Research Labs) at Comodo Cybersecurity. Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder - Cyber Security News & GBHackers On Security.

Latest articles

Threat Actors Leverage Weaponized HTML Files to Deliver Horabot Malware

A recent discovery by FortiGuard Labs has unveiled a cunning phishing campaign orchestrated by...

TA406 Hackers Target Government Entities to Steal Login Credentials

The North Korean state-sponsored threat actor TA406, also tracked as Opal Sleet and Konni,...

Google Threat Intelligence Releases Actionable Threat Hunting Technique for Malicious .desktop Files

Google Threat Intelligence has unveiled a series of sophisticated threat hunting techniques to detect...

New Adobe Photoshop Vulnerability Enables Arbitrary Code Execution

Adobe has released critical security updates addressing three high-severity vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-30324, CVE-2025-30325, CVE-2025-30326) in...

Resilience at Scale

Why Application Security is Non-Negotiable

The resilience of your digital infrastructure directly impacts your ability to scale. And yet, application security remains a critical weak link for most organizations.

Application Security is no longer just a defensive play—it’s the cornerstone of cyber resilience and sustainable growth. In this webinar, Karthik Krishnamoorthy (CTO of Indusface) and Phani Deepak Akella (VP of Marketing – Indusface), will share how AI-powered application security can help organizations build resilience by

Discussion points


Protecting at internet scale using AI and behavioral-based DDoS & bot mitigation.
Autonomously discovering external assets and remediating vulnerabilities within 72 hours, enabling secure, confident scaling.
Ensuring 100% application availability through platforms architected for failure resilience.
Eliminating silos with real-time correlation between attack surface and active threats for rapid, accurate mitigation

More like this

Threat Actors Leverage Weaponized HTML Files to Deliver Horabot Malware

A recent discovery by FortiGuard Labs has unveiled a cunning phishing campaign orchestrated by...

Katz Stealer Malware Hits 78+ Chromium and Gecko-Based Browsers

Newly disclosed information-stealing malware dubbed Katz Stealer has emerged as a significant threat to...

Hackers Weaponize KeePass Password Manager to Spread Malware and Steal Passwords

Threat actors have successfully exploited the widely-used open-source password manager, KeePass, to spread malware...