THE DANGEROUS: BlackRock Android Malware

A few days ago, we heard about the dangerous ‘Joker’ malware that affected 24 apps in the Google Play Store. Now, a new malware called BlackRock has been found that is stealing bank data. A total of 337 Android users have been infected by this malware. This dangerous malware is stealing bank account information from apps like Gmail, Amazon, Netflix, and Uber. The mobile security firm ThreatFabric was the first to detect BlackRock malware. According to ThreatFabric ‘s study, this malware behaves like other Trojan banks. This not only exploits user authentication data (username and password) but also allows users to enter payment card details.

What is BlackRock Android Malware? How does malware work? Are you at Risk?

Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network. A wide variety of types of malware exist, including computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, rogue software, and scareware.

Now, a new malware named BlackRock has been discovered to affect as many as 377 popular branded smartphone apps, presenting a high-risk rate for users. The new BlackRock malware has been found by cyber-security company ThreatFabric. This can access confidential data including passwords and bank information. It is believed to be a trojan and LokiBot created a version of Xerxes.

List Of Apps Affected By BlackRock Malware:

The list of targets for BlackRock is much bigger. Unlike previous-generation trojans targeting the banking apps, this one targets applications across categories such as social media, dating, music, videos, and much more.
GooglePay ,Amazon ,Shopping ,Gmail ,WhatsApp ,Instagram ,Facebook
Facebook Messenger ,Facebook Lite ,Uber ,YouTube ,Tinder ,Netflix ,PayPal ,Skype.

How does BlackRock Android malware work?

BlackRock banking malware is disguised as bogus Google Apps alerts that pop-up on users’ phones. The malware removes the icon from the device drawer and asks for accessibility permissions. When the user grants the privileges, the Google Update pop-up notifications will start appearing with the bot granting the rest of the administrator’s permissions to be fully functional.

Following this, the malware can execute overlay attacks and can steal personal information such as login data, banking details, and more. There are as many as 337 apps that target this malware, and this is something that has not been seen with banking malware before. No mobile anti-virus can be detected because it does not require users to open security apps such as Avast, AVG, BitDefender, Eset, Symantec, TrendMicro, Kaspersky, McAfee, Avira, and any other such devices.

BlackRock Android malware is being spread to third-party websites and has not yet been found on the Play Store. As a form of security, it is recommended not to visit untrusted websites.

How to protect your phone from BlackRock Android malware?
Right now, the trojan is yet to be spotted on Google Play Store and is distributed as a fake Google Update on third-party stores. First and foremost don’t click on dodgy links and always delete anything that looks suspicious. Restrict downloads with a password. Read and understand app permissions. Your best bet is to download apps only from the Google Play Stores, use strong passwords, beware of spam and phishing emails, use an antivirus app if possible, and check app permissions. A patch could be on the way.