Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new Android banking malware named MaliBot, which poses as a cryptocurrency mining app or the Chrome web browser to target users in Italy and Spain.
MaliBot focuses on stealing financial information such as e-banking service credentials, crypto wallet passwords, and personal details, while it’s also capable of snatching two-factor authentication codes from notifications.
According to a report by
F5 Labs, whose analysts discovered the new malware, it’s currently using multiple distribution channels, likely aiming to cover the market gap created by the sudden
shutdown of the FluBot operation.
Fake crypto-apps
Malibot’s command and control server is based in Russia, and its IP has been associated with several malware distribution campaigns dating as far back as June 2020.
The distribution of MaliBot takes place via websites that promote cryptocurrency applications in the form of APKs that victims download and install manually.
The sites that push these files are clones of real projects like TheCryptoApp, which has over a million downloads on the Google Play Store.
In another campaign, the malware is pushed as an app called Mining X, and the victims are tricked into scanning a QR code to download the malicious APK file.