Authored by Dexter Shin
Many authorities companies present their companies on-line for the comfort of their residents. Additionally, if this service might be offered via a cellular app, it will be very handy and accessible. However what occurs when malware pretends to be these companies?
McAfee Cell Analysis Staff discovered an InfoStealer Android malware pretending to be a authorities company service in Bahrain. This malware pretends to be the official app of Bahrain and advertises that customers can renew or apply for driver’s licenses, visas, and ID playing cards on cellular. Customers who’re deceived by commercials that they’re accessible on cellular might be supplied with the required private data for these companies indisputably. They attain customers in varied methods, together with Fb and SMS messages. Customers who should not conversant in these assaults simply make the error of sending private data.
Detailed pretended app
In Bahrain, there’s a authorities company referred to as the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). This company operates with full monetary and administrative independence beneath the steerage of a board of administrators chaired by the Minister of Labour. They supply quite a lot of cellular companies, and most apps present just one service per app. Nonetheless, this faux app promotes offering multiple service.
Determine 1. Respectable official LMRA web site
Determine 2. Pretend app named LMRA
Excluding probably the most often discovered faux apps pretending LMRA, there are numerous faux apps included Financial institution of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), BenefitPay, a fintech firm in Bahrain, and even apps pretending to be associated to Bitcoin or loans. These apps use the identical strategies because the LMRA faux apps to steal private data.
Determine 3. Numerous faux apps utilizing the identical strategies
From the kind of app that this malware pretends, we are able to guess that the aim is monetary fraud to make use of the private data it has stolen. Furthermore, somebody has been affected by this marketing campaign as proven within the image beneath.
Determine 4. Victims of monetary fraud (Supply: Reddit)
Distribution technique
They distribute these apps utilizing Fb pages and SMS messages. Fb pages are faux and malware writer is consistently creating new pages. These pages direct customers to phishing websites, both WordPress weblog websites or customized websites designed to obtain apps.
Determine 5. Fb profile and web page with a hyperlink to the phishing website
Determine 6. One of many phishing websites designed to obtain app
Within the case of SMS, social engineering messages are despatched to trick customers into clicking a hyperlink in order that they really feel the necessity to urgently affirm.
Determine 7. Phishing message utilizing SMS (Supply: Reddit)
What they need
When the person launches the app, the app exhibits a big legit icon for customers to be mistaken. And it asks for the CPR and cellphone quantity. The CPR quantity is an unique 9-digit identifier given to every resident in Bahrain. There’s a “Confirm” button, however it’s merely a button to ship data to the C2 server. If customers enter their data, it goes on to the following display with out verification. This step simply shops the data for the following step.
Determine 8. The primary display (left) and subsequent display of a faux app (proper)
There are numerous menus, however they’re all linked to the identical URL. The parameter worth is the CPR and cellphone numbers enter by the person on the primary display.
Determine 9. All menus are linked to the identical URL
The final web page asks for the person’s full identify, e mail, and date of delivery. After inputting every little thing and clicking the “Ship” button, all data inputted up to now might be despatched to the malware writer’s c2 server.
Determine 10. All information despatched to C2 server
After sending, it exhibits a completion web page to trick the person. It exhibits a message saying you’ll obtain an e mail inside 24 hours. However it’s only a counter that decreases robotically. So, it does nothing after 24 hours. In different phrases, whereas customers are ready for the affirmation e mail for twenty-four hours, cybercriminals will exploit the stolen data to steal victims’ monetary belongings.
Determine 11. Completion web page to trick customers
As well as, they’ve a payload for stealing SMS. This app has a receiver that works when SMS is acquired. In order quickly as SMS comes, it sends an SMS message to the C2 server with out notifying the person.
Determine 12. Payload for stealing SMS
Dynamic loading of phishing websites by way of Firebase
We confirmed that there are two varieties of these apps. There’s a sort that implements a customized C2 server and receives information straight via net API, and one other sort is an app that makes use of Firebase. Firebase is a backend service platform offered by Google. Amongst many companies, Firestore can retailer information as a database. This malware makes use of Firestore. As a result of it’s a legit service offered by Google, it’s tough to detect as a malicious URL.
For apps that use Firebase, dynamically load phishing URLs saved in Firestore. Due to this fact, even when a phishing website is blocked, it’s attainable to reply rapidly to keep up already put in victims by altering the URL saved in Firestore.
Determine 13. Dynamically loading phishing website loaded in webview
We reported the Firebase URLs associated to this menace to Google they usually took immediate enforcement motion on them so they don’t seem to be accessible anymore.
Conclusion
Based on our detection telemetry information, there are 62 customers have already used this app in Bahrain. Nonetheless, since this information is a quantity on the time of writing, this quantity is predicted to proceed to extend, contemplating that new Fb pages are nonetheless being actively created.
Current malware tends to focus on particular international locations or customers reasonably than widespread assaults. These assaults could also be tough for normal customers to tell apart as a result of malware precisely makes use of the components wanted by customers dwelling in a selected nation. So we suggest customers set up safe software program to guard their gadgets. Additionally, customers are inspired to obtain and use apps from official app shops like Google Play Retailer or Apple AppStore. In the event you can’t discover an app in these shops, you have to obtain the app offered on the official web site.
McAfee Cell Safety already detects this menace as Android/InfoStealer. For extra data, go to McAfee Cell Safety.
Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)
Samples:
| SHA256 | Package deal Title | App Title |
| 6f6d86e60814ad7c86949b7b5c212b83ab0c4da65f0a105693c48d9b5798136c | com.ariashirazi.instabrowser | LMRA |
| 5574c98c9df202ec7799c3feb87c374310fa49a99838e68eb43f5c08ca08392d | com.npra.bahrain.5 | LMRA Bahrain |
| b7424354c356561811e6af9d8f4f4e5b0bf6dfe8ad9d57f4c4e13b6c4eaccafb | com.npra.bahrain.5 | LMRA Bahrain |
| f9bdeca0e2057b0e334c849ff918bdbe49abd1056a285fed1239c9948040496a | com.lmra.9.lmranine | LMRA |
| bf22b5dfc369758b655dda8ae5d642c205bb192bbcc3a03ce654e6977e6df730 | com.stich.inches | Visa Replace |
| 8c8ffc01e6466a3e02a4842053aa872119adf8d48fd9acd686213e158a8377ba | com.ariashirazi.instabrowser | EasyLoan |
| 164fafa8a48575973eee3a33ee9434ea07bd48e18aa360a979cc7fb16a0da819 | com.ariashirazi.instabrowser | BTC Flasher |
| 94959b8c811fdcfae7c40778811a2fcc4c84fbdb8cde483abd1af9431fc84b44 | com.ariashirazi.instabrowser | BenefitPay |
| d4d0b7660e90be081979bfbc27bbf70d182ff1accd829300255cae0cb10fe546 | com.lymors.lulumoney | BBK Mortgage App |
Domains:
- https[://]lmraa.com
- https[://]lmjbfv.website
- https[://]dbjiud.website
- https[://]a.jobshuntt.com
- https[://]store.wecarerelief.ca
Firebase (for C2):
- https[://]npra-5.firebaseio.com
- https[://]lmra9-38b17.firebaseio.com
- https[://]practice-8e048.firebaseio.com
