Check Point Research (CPR), the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies, a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has published its latest Global Threat Index for June 2022. CPR reports that a new Android banking malware has emerged, named MaliBot, following the takedown of FluBot at the end of May.
Although only just discovered, MaliBot has already reached third place in the most prevalent mobile malwares list. It disguises itself as cryptocurrency mining applications under different names and targets users of mobile banking to steal financial information.
Similar to FluBot, MaliBot uses phishing SMS messages (smishing) to lure victims into clicking on a malicious link that redirects them to the download of a fake application containing the malware.
Also this month, the notorious malware, Emotet, is still the most prevalent malware overall. Snake Keylogger comes in third after an increase in activity since appearing in eighth place last month. Snake’s main functionality is to record users keystrokes and transmit collected data to threat actors.
While in May CPR witnessed Snake Keylogger being delivered via PDF files, recently it has been spread through emails containing Word attachments tagged as requests for quotations. Researchers also reported about new variant of Emotet in June that has credit card stealing capabilities and targets Chrome browser users.
“While it’s always good to see law enforcement successful in bringing down cybercrime groups or malwares like FluBot, sadly it didn’t take long for a new mobile malware to take its place,” said VP Research at Check Point Software, Maya Horowitz.
“Cybercriminals are well aware of the central role that mobile devices play in many peoples’ lives and are always adapting and improving their tactics to match. The threat landscape is evolving rapidly, and mobile malware is a significant danger for both personal and enterprise security. It’s never been more important to have a robust mobile threat prevention solution in place.”
CPR also revealed that “Apache Log4j Remote Code Execution” is the most commonly exploited vulnerability, impacting 43% of organizations worldwide, closely followed by “Web Server Exposed Git Repository Information Disclosure” which has a global impact of 42.3%. “Web Servers Malicious URL Directory Traversal” is in third place with a global impact of 42.1%.
