Fake YouTube found on the Internet - it puts smartphones under wiretapping
Miscellaneous / / September 25, 2023
The Trojan is distributed through “unauthorized” websites.
Specialists from the SentinelLabs research laboratory discovered three fake YouTube apps that turn smartphones into listening devices. All programs are remote access trojans (RATs) called CapraRAT.
Two of the apps are simply called YouTube and the third is called Piya Sharma. They are distributed through “leftist” sites on the Internet. They were not found on Google Play.
Outwardly, they are indeed very similar to YouTube. True, on its web version, not mobile, which should be an alarming signal for people, since it is still positioned as an application for a smartphone. Another worrying point: they lack some key video hosting features. A plus to all this is that they ask for expanded access to settings.
Once installed, Trojans provide attackers with remote access to the device and allow them to steal confidential data, including SMS messages, call logs and GPS data.
In addition, they can change system settings and files, and take screenshots. But their main feature is the ability to record audio and video.
These fake apps are mainly used to spy on diplomats and government officials in Pakistan and India. The main goal is blackmail. And this concerns not so much their work as their personal life.
SentinelLabs believes that the applications were created by the APT36 hacker group associated with the Pakistani government. The virus itself has existed since at least 2018, but until recently it was spreading under the guise of dating apps.
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