Geost Banking Trojan Targets Russian Banks Via Unofficial Webpages

Security researchers observed attackers using unofficial webpages in an attempt to target Russian financial institutions with the Geost banking Trojan.

By reverse engineering a sample of Geost, Trend Micro learned that digital attackers primarily relied on unofficial webpages with randomly generated server hostnames to distribute the banking Trojan. As such, the malware specifically targeted Android users without access to the Google Play store and those inclined to search for programs not available on Google’s official Android marketplace.

One sample discovered by Trend Micro arrived in an application with the name “установка,” which is Russian for “setting.” The app used the Google Play logo to trick users into downloading it from an obscure web server. Unsurprisingly, this program hid its logo upon successful installation. It then demanded that its victims grant it important administrator privileges, including the ability to access SMS messages for the purpose of receiving confirmation text messages from Russian banking services.

Other Malware Threats Confronting Russian Banks

Geost first attracted the security community’s attention in October 2019. At that time, Virus Bulletin published a research paper detailing the activities of the Trojan. This briefing revealed that the malware had infected 800,000 victims at the time of discovery.

It’s important to note that Geost isn’t the first banking Trojan that’s targeted Russian financial institutions. Back in June 2019, for instance, Kaspersky Lab discovered that new variants of the Riltok Trojan family had expanded beyond their normal scope of Russian banks to include organizations in France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

How to Defend Against the Geost Banking Trojan

Security professionals can help their organizations defend against the Geost banking Trojan and similar threats by preventing employees from downloading apps from unofficial marketplaces onto their work devices. Infosec personnel should also invest in a unified endpoint management (UEM) solution for the purpose of automatically uninstalling infected mobile apps upon detection.

David Bisson

Contributing Editor

What cybersecurity pros can learn from first responders

4 min read - Though they may initially seem very different, there are some compelling similarities between cybersecurity professionals and traditional first responders like police and EMTs. After all, in a world where a cyberattack on critical infrastructure could cause untold damage and harm, cyber responders must be ready for anything.But are they actually prepared? Compared to the readiness of traditional first responders, how do cybersecurity professionals in incident response stand up? Let’s dig deeper into whether the same sense of urgency exists in…

Unified endpoint management for purpose-based devices

4 min read - As purpose-built devices become increasingly common, the challenges associated with their unique management and security needs are becoming clear. What are purpose-built devices? Most fall under the category of rugged IoT devices typically used outside of an office environment and which often run on a different operating system than typical office devices. Examples include ruggedized tablets and smartphones, handheld scanners and kiosks. Many different industries are utilizing purpose-built devices, including travel and transportation, retail, warehouse and distribution, manufacturing (including automotive)…

Stealthy WailingCrab Malware misuses MQTT Messaging Protocol

14 min read - This article was made possible thanks to the hard work of writer Charlotte Hammond and contributions from Ole Villadsen and Kat Metrick. IBM X-Force researchers have been tracking developments to the WailingCrab malware family, in particular, those relating to its C2 communication mechanisms, which include misusing the Internet-of-Things (IoT) messaging protocol MQTT. WailingCrab, also known as WikiLoader, is a sophisticated, multi-component malware delivered almost exclusively by an initial access broker that X-Force tracks as Hive0133, which overlaps with TA544. WailingCrab…

Operationalize cyber risk quantification for smart security

4 min read - Organizations constantly face new tactics from cyber criminals who aim to compromise their most valuable assets. Yet despite evolving techniques, many security leaders still rely on subjective terms, such as low, medium and high, to communicate and manage cyber risk. These vague terms do not convey the necessary detail or insight to produce actionable outcomes that accurately identify, measure, manage and communicate cyber risks. As a result, executives and board members remain uninformed and ill-prepared to manage organizational risk effectively.…

Security Intelligence

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

Topics

Other Malware Threats Confronting Russian Banks

How to Defend Against the Geost Banking Trojan

More from

What cybersecurity pros can learn from first responders

Unified endpoint management for purpose-based devices

Stealthy WailingCrab Malware misuses MQTT Messaging Protocol

Operationalize cyber risk quantification for smart security

Topic updates