Man-in-the-Mobile Attacks Target the Bank Accounts of Android Users

Android users in Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany have been plagued by man-in-the-mobile (MITMO) attacks which enable cybercriminals to gain access to victims' banking data and make fraudulent transfers.

Image source: Photozou / CC BY 2.1

Powered by malwares such as Tatanga and SpyEye (SPITMO), these attacks start off as web injections via Windows users' PCs and come under the guise of notices from the victims' financial institutions instructing them to install a security application onto their mobile phones. If installed onto a device that runs on Google's operating system, the app gives the attacker access to all SMS traffic, including banking transaction authorization codes.

With Android devices accounting for most of the smartphone market in these countries, the Android platform is the obvious target and you must ask how many of your CU's members are also Android users. On the upside, there are preventative technologies out there, such as Guardtime's keyless data integrity validation service which shows when a MITMO attack has occurred and can help your CU intercept the attacker.

Learn more about how to spot these attacks.

Phishing the financial and banking seas

Thanks to the emergence of mobile devices, social networks, and new technologies such as Near Field Communications, the attack surface area against financial institutions has expanded at an explosive rate, providing cybercriminals more opportunities than ever to go "fishing" at your CU's expense.

Image source: Hitchster / CC BY 2.0

The top threats are payment card fraud, cheque fraud, phishing/vishing, account takeover, and third-party point-of-sale skimming, with about 80% of such incidents experienced by banking customers and an exponential escalation of malware attacks targeting financial transactions. Many large financial institutions are confident in their security measures and preparedness against the modern threat landscape, but recent history suggests otherwise.

Yet the painfully long list of increased security breaches within the past year is only the tip of the iceberg. As pointed out by U.S. Vice Admiral J. Mike McConnel (Rtd), "if you can just contaminate the data in one large bank, you could cause global banking to collapse."

Is your CU one of these overconfident institutions? Take a look at this Malta Independent report for a reality check...

Researchers Find Serious Flaws in Popular Point-of-Sale System

VeriFone Systems' widely used Artema Hybrid point-of-sale system has been found by Security Research Labs in Germany to have several serious vulnerabilities which enable attackers to alter transactions, steal card data, and perform other malicious activity.

Image source: Nik Hewitt

The series of weaknesses discovered within some of the terminals gives attackers pathways into the system both remotely and via local interface. The bigger issue however is what an attacker can do after gaining access to the system. The most serious attack scenario would involve the attacker not only stealing data from a payment card, but modifying the transaction itself as well by changing the amount charged to the card.

VeriFone is currently investigating the situtation to determine the appropriate countermeasures and will release an update when further information is available. Read the details of the report in the Threatpost article.