Kaspersky Lab has discovered a new virus that penetrates smartphones through fake applications in the App Store and Google Play. This Trojan steals data from photos and can be found in 20 different programs: from messengers to AI assistants and crypto exchanges. This was reported by a company representative. He specified that users downloaded programs with a malicious framework from Google Play more than 242,000 times.
The SparkCat Trojan looks like a regular application, but after installation and launch, it requests access to photos. It then uses OCR (optical character recognition) technology to analyze text on images in the gallery. If the stealer finds keywords, it sends these images to attackers.
Experts believe that the creators of such Trojans want to gain access to people's crypto wallets. To do this, they use seed phrases to steal other people's digital assets. Viruses can also search for messages and passwords if they are in screenshots.
Sergey Puzan from Kaspersky Lab said that this is the first case when malicious software that steals user data was embedded in an application from the App Store.
This campaign shatters the stereotypes that malicious applications for iOS do not exist, and Android threats are not relevant for Apple device owners.
Timofey Voronin, Deputy Director for Technology Transfer at the NTI Center for Technologies for Storing and Analyzing Big Data at Moscow State University, said that previously only owners of Android devices faced a similar problem. For example, in 2023, the CherryBloss and FakeTrade Trojans, disguised as applications for mining and online shopping, infected devices on this operating system and searched for confidential information in images. Their main goal was to gain access to the crypto wallet.
In 2024, cybercriminals stole up to 300 billion rubles from Russians. Currently, a unified national platform is being developed to combat fraud. This platform will allow for the rapid detection and blocking of phishing sites, as well as phone numbers and bank accounts of fraudsters. In addition, the system will track suspicious financial transactions, which will help prevent theft and protect users.
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