Several malicious Android apps designed to steal mobile transaction authentication numbers (mTANs) sent by banks to their customers over SMS (Short Message Service) were found on Google Play by researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab.
The apps were created by a gang that uses a variant of the Carberp banking malware to target the customers of several Russian banks, Denis Maslennikov, a senior malware analyst at Kaspersky, said Friday in a blog post.
Many banks use mTANs as a security mechanism to prevent cybercriminals from transferring money from compromised online banking accounts. When a transaction is initiated from an online banking account, the bank sends an unique code called an mTAN via SMS to the account owner's phone number. The account owner has to input that code back into the online banking website in order for the transaction to be authorized.
