THE 'CERBERUS TROJAN' : WAY TO 'PAATAL LOK'

"Let no such man be trusted" -- William Shakespeare

- Suraj Kumar Shoundik

On one side the entire world is going through tough time of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and on the other side hackers/ fraudsters are using malicious Trojan virus 'Cerberus' to steal the users' financial data such as credit card details & Banking account details.

With the rise of cyber threats from Cerberus, the CBI has put out an alert on malware that could steal your financial information.

What is Cerberus?

Cerberus, in Greek mythology, a multi-headed monster said to be the watchdog of the underworld. Here, this banking Trojan (a Trojan is a malicious code or software that looks legitimate) was created in 2019 and is a malware for hire for banking forums. It allows remote attackers to take control over infected android devices and can take screenshots, send, delete SMSes, and most importantly, steal your account information.

This malicious software takes advantage of COVID-19 pandemic to impersonate and lure the victim by sending SMS containing COVID-19 related content to download the embedded malicious link and deploys its malicious app, which usually spread via phishing campaigns to trick users into installing it on their smartphones.

This Trojan primarily focuses on stealing financial data such as credit card details, bank accounts information, passwords etc. The stolen data could be used to make unauthorized transactions from the compromised credit card/ Bank accounts.

Understanding a banking Trojan?