ESET researchers detect a new way of misusing Accessibility Service, the Achilles’ heel of Android security
ESET researchers have analyzed an extremely dangerous Android app that can perform a host of nefarious actions, notably wiping out the victim’s bank account or cryptocurrency wallet and taking over their email or social media accounts. Called “DEFENSOR ID”, the banking trojan was available on Google Play at the time of the analysis. The app is fitted with standard information-stealing capabilities; however, this banker is exceptionally insidious in that after installation it requires a single action from the victim – enable Android’s Accessibility Service – to fully unleash the app’s malicious functionality.
The DEFENSOR ID app made it onto the heavily guarded Google Play store thanks to its extreme stealth. Its creators reduced the app’s malicious surface to the bare minimum by removing all potentially malicious functionalities but one: abusing Accessibility Service.
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