A new malware known as Snake has been detected recently by Cybereason security firm, this Snake malware is being used by the threat actors to steal sensitive data from Android devices.
This malware has been found in over 50 well-renowned apps and they can steal a user’s:-
- Credentials
- Take screenshots of their screen
While the malware doesn’t have any major effects on a device, it can be used for phishing or to gain access to a user’s banking information.
The project of Snake malware is totally a different project from the ransomware operation, and it’s active since November 2020. Using the same staging mechanism and .NET this new strain of malware is developed.
Features of Snake malware
On the dark web forums, cybercriminals are selling this malware for just $25, and due to its low pricing, there is a hefty rise in its use. While through malicious websites with malicious email links or via malicious email attachments the threat actors install the Snake on their victim’s system.
But, apart from these strategies, the primary medium of the deployment of Snake malware is done via phishing campaigns, since they are easy and volatile among users.
Once installed, then from over 50 apps Snake can steal sensitive data like user’s credentials, and the app list includes popular:-
- Email clients
- Web browsers
- IM platforms
Among all the features, the Snake offers these primary key features to its operators:-
- Keystroke logging
- Clipboard data theft
- Screenshot theft
- Credential theft
- Data exfiltration
- OS data theft
- Memory space info
- Geolocation
- Date-time information
- IP addresses
Affected apps
Here below we have mentioned all the apps that are affected:-
- Discord
- Pidgin
- FileZilla
- Foxmail
- Outlook
- PostBox
- Thunderbird
- 360 Browser
- 360Chrome
- 7 Star
- Amigo
- Avast Secure Browser
- BlackHawk
- Blisk
- Brave
- CentBrowser
- Chedot
- Chrome
- Chrome Canary
- ChromePlus
- Chromium
- Citrio
- Coc Coc
- Comodo Dragon
- Coowon
- Cyberfox
- Edge
- Elements
- Epic
- Firefox
- Ghost Browser
- IceCat
- IceDragon
- Iridium
- Kinza
- Kometa
- Liebao
- Nichrome
- Opera
- Opera
- Orbitum
- Pale Moon
- QIP Surf
- QQBrowser
- SalamWeb
- SeaMonkey
- Sleipnir
- SlimBrowser
- Slimjet
- Sputnik
- SuperBird
- Torch
- UC Browser
- Uran
- Vivaldi
- Waterfox
- Xpom
- Xvast
- Yandex
Escaping detection
By killing the associated processes Snake disables defenses of security solutions and it also disables the network traffic analyzers, like this Snake malware escape detection.
Apart from this, without being detected Snake also performs malicious PowerShell commands by adding itself to the exclusion list of Microsoft’s Windows Defender security solution.
For data exfiltration, an FTP or SMTP server connection or an HTTPS POST on a Telegram endpoint is used by Snake malware.
Recommendations
The Cybereason GSOC has recommended a few mitigations, and here they are:-
- Install a robust AV solution and enable the Anti-Malware feature.
- Be cautious before opening any email that originates from external sources.
- Always use a secure password with complex variations.
- Frequently change your passwords.
- For data exfiltration activities regularly monitor outgoing network traffic.
- Always use multi-factor authentication.
With these sets of features and abilities, the Snake is a versatile info-stealer, and with a price tag of $25, it is accessible to everyone, since in this price range it offers the capability of remaining hidden from security solutions.
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