Cookie-stealing trojans found lurking on Android phones

guest · Mar 12, 2020

Cookie-stealing trojans found lurking on Android phones
Kaspersky discovers two new Android malware modifications that could give hackers control of their victims’ social media accounts
March 12, 2020
https://www.computerweekly.com/news...aling-trojans-found-lurking-on-Android-phones

Researchers at Kaspersky have raised the alarm after uncovering two new Android malware modifications that can steal browser and application cookies and enable cyber criminals to take control of their victims’ social media accounts.

The ruse works by exploiting the unique session ID cookies that websites use to identify users in future without requiring them to log in using their passwords.
If the website can be fooled into thinking the attacker is the victim – easily done if they are in possession of a user’s ID – it becomes a very simple matter to take over the target account and use it for malicious purposes.
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The first trojan, dubbed Cookiethief, acquires root rights on the target device, enabling the attackers to transfer cookies to their own servers.

The second trojan, dubbed Youzicheng, runs a proxy server on the target device to fool security measures that block suspicious login attempts – for example, logging in from two geographically distant locations a few minutes apart – and gain access without alerting the victim or website.

“By combining two attacks, the cookie thieves have discovered a way to gain control over their victims’ account without arousing suspicion,” said Kaspersky malware analyst Igor Golovin. “While this is a relatively new threat – so far only about 1,000 individuals have been targeted – that number is growing and will most likely continue to do so, particularly because it is so hard for websites to detect.
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Kaspersky: Cookiethief: a cookie-stealing Trojan for Android

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