Thursday, November 30, 2023

Monokle – Mobile Surveillance Malware Developed by Russian Defense Contractor Spy Android Users in Wide

Security researchers observed a highly targeted Android mobile surveillanceware malware dubbed Monokle that compromises users privacy by stealing user data and exfiltrate the data to remote servers.

Lookout researchers able to link the malware associated with Russian defense contactor STC, the malware operates on both offensive and defensive side of mobile tooling.

The malware is used for targeting individuals and it heavily relies on Android accessibility services to exfiltrate the data. Lookout observed the malware uses shared interface along with legitimate and malicious Android applications produced by STC.

Monokle Presence in Android Applications

With the rooted the malware is capable of installing attacker-specified certificates to the trusted thereby, the malware can launch a MITM over TLS traffic. The malware observed in several trojanized versions of legitimate applications such as Skype, Google update, Signal, Es Explorer and other applications. The malware samples found in the wild.

The malware attempts to record screens during unlocking events to compromise the device PIN, pattern, or password. It uses accessibility services to capture data from third-party apps such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, and other apps.

Lookout able to confirm the existence of an iOS version of the malware, “the classes and commands appear to serve no purpose as part of the Android client and may have been generated and included in it unintentionally.”

Malware Surveillanceware Capabilities

  • Remounts system partition to install attackers certificate to intercept TLS connection
  • Get the salt that was used when storing a user’s password
  • Reset a user’s Pincode
  • Capable of hooking itself to appear invisible to Process Manager
  • Retrieve calendar information
  • Receive out-of-band messages via keywords
  • Retrieve user dictionary
  • Record environment audio
  • Make outgoing calls.
  • Record calls
  • Keylogger, Grab Screenshots and retrieve call history.
  • Take photos and videos.
  • Collect information from WhatsApp, Instagram, VK, Skype and IMO.
  • Retrieve contacts, Reboot a device and List installed applications.
  • Get nearby tower info and Wi-Fi details.
  • Execute arbitrary shell if root access available.

The STC involved in developing a number of software products that focus om Android defensive security that includes native antivirus engine, and a network monitor application and other products.

According to the report “Command and control infrastructure that communicates with the Defender application also communicates with Monokle samples. The signing certificates used for signing Android application packages overlap between Defender and Monokle as well”.Lookout observed a number of developers name associated with Monokle connected with STC as well.”

Mobile phones have become a part of everyday life, and their functionality continues to develop at a rapid pace. Our private and personal data stored on mobile devices and the cloud is now more vulnerable than ever to cybersecurity threats.

You can follow us on LinkedinTwitterFacebook for daily Cybersecurity updates also you can take the Best Cybersecurity course online to keep yourself updated.

Website

Latest articles

Chrome Zero-Day Vulnerability That Exploited In The Wild

Google has fixed the sixth Chrome zero-day bug that was exploited in the wild this...

Iranian Mobile Banking Malware Steal Login Credentials & Steal OTP Codes

An Android malware campaign was previously discovered that distributed banking trojans targeting four major...

BLUFFS: Six New Attacks that Break Secrecy of Bluetooth Sessions

Six novel Bluetooth attack methods have been discovered, which were named BLUFFS (Bluetooth Forward...

Google Workspace’s Design Flaw Allows Attacker Unauthorized Access

Recent years saw a surge in cloud tech adoption, highlighting the efficiency through tools...

Serial ‘SIM Swapper’ Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison

In a digital age marred by deceit, 25-year-old Amir Hossein Golshan stands as a...

Design Flaw in Domain-Wide Delegation Could Leave Google Workspace Vulnerable to Takeover – Hunters

BOSTON, MASS. and TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, November 28, 2023 - A severe design flaw...

Hackers Behind High-Profile Ransomware Attacks on 71 Countries Arrested

Hackers launched ransomware attacks to extort money from the following two entities by encrypting...

API Attack Simulation Webinar

Live API Attack Simulation

In the upcoming webinar, Karthik Krishnamoorthy, CTO and Vivek Gopalan, VP of Products at Indusface demonstrate how APIs could be hacked.The session will cover:an exploit of OWASP API Top 10 vulnerability, a brute force account take-over (ATO) attack on API, a DDoS attack on an API, how a WAAP could bolster security over an API gateway

Related Articles