A new virus targets Android smartphones, including in Italy, with the aim of stealing funds from financial apps used by victims. It’s called Brata and was first spotted in 2019 by Kaspersky security experts. In recent days, however, the company Cleafy Labs has detected an important surge in the spread of the threat in Europe, due to an update that makes it operational outside its country of origin, Brazil.
It all starts with a phishing message that claims to arrive from your bank. Contains a link which, when clicked, leads to a malicious site which initiates the installation of an application called “Antispam”, “Device Security” or “Advanced Security”. After accepting the installation requests from unknown sources, you find yourself on a web page, where the user should enter the personal codes of their bank accounts. At that point, the virus records everything and begins to steal the economic reserves. And not only that: after having carried out the work of emptying the finances, Brata forces a reset of the mobile phone, which is found completely reset, with a further insult for users.
The tips to avoid falling into such traps are always the same: avoid opening links received via messages and chats, even if apparently sent by banks, and do not install applications outside the Android Play Store.
Google, which manages the digital store, has been practicing a periodic and automatic check of hosted applications for years to verify their authenticity and eliminate software that contains malicious code, visus and other threats. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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