Fortinet,
a network security provider, announced that FortiGuard Labs observed ongoing
development of the new DroidKungFu malware, which has been found to have
multiple variants and behaves much like malware found on today’s PCs.
“DroidKungFu
clearly represents the next evolution in mobile malware,” said Derek
Manky, senior security strategist at Fortinet.
“Where
earlier attempts at Android malware, such as Zeus in the Mobile (Zitmo), are
able to intercept the type of two-factor authentication that banks use to
validate the identity of the account holder when logging in, DroidKungFu does
much more. By disguising itself as a legitimate VPN client application, the
malware quickly gains root access to the device using social engineering. Once
executed, DroidKungFu has the ability to download further malware, open URLs in
a browser, start programs and delete files on the system,” Manky added.
URL
shortening services, such as TinyURL offer a convenient way to package and
transmit long and unwieldy website addresses to specific recipients. When a
user clicks on a shortened link, they are redirected to the website’s original
address. Because URL shortening services are able to reduce the number of
characters in a typical web address, they’re a favorite among Twitter users.
They’re
also frequently used for email purposes, because some email applications have
the tendency to break longer links during transmit or arrival. However, the
benefit of a URL shortening service is also its biggest weakness, as the
service enables criminals to obfuscate malicious links that can infect a user’s
system.
Historically,
Fortinet has
always recommended that users place their cursor over a questionable URL before
clicking on it to see if that link is actually being redirected to a questionable
page. This safety measure is not applicable to shortened URLs. There’s no sure
fire way to tell in advance when a user clicks on a shortened URL if they are
about to be redirected to a malicious site.
Advances
in antispam techniques are catching much of today’s shortened link malware.
However, we’re now starting to see malicious software creators creating their
own URL shortening services to circumvent the latest spam detection technology.
This is yet another example of crime as a service (CaaS) that cybercriminals
offer.
One
way to determine if a shortened URL is pointing to a malicious site is to look
at the domain at the end of the link. Most observed malicious URL shortening
services have been recently using the .info domain. Another way to tell if a
shortened URL is redirecting to a malicious site is to paste the questionable
link into a URL filtering tool, such as Fortinet’s URL Lookup. Finally, a
proper Web filtering solution helps to protect against URL shortening services
since the full domain is still resolved and checked.
By
Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]
