A new Android malware has recently emerged, which has the ability to gain root access to your smartphone and completely erase your phone's memory.
Dubbed Mazar BOT, this dangerous malware program loads your device with so many hidden capabilities that security researchers are describing it as “can turn your smartphone into a zombie within a hacker botnet.”
The Mazar BOT was discovered by Heimdal Security as security analysts at the company analyzed an SMS message sent to random mobile phone numbers and random locations.
How does Mazar BOT ?
While other Android malware is distributed by tricking users into installing an app from third-party app stores, Mazar spreads via spam SMS or MMS messages that carry a link to a malicious APK (Android app file).
Once the user clicks on this link, they end up downloading an APK file to their Android device, which when run, asks the user to install a new application.
This new Android app has a very generic name,<MMS Messaging> , and requests admin level privileges. Most of the users end up giving root access to the malicious app because of its common name.
What makes Mazar BOT so dangerous?
Once it manages to gain root access to the victim's device, Mazar BOT will be able to perform a wide variety of actions on your Android device, such as:
- Obtaining boot persistence
- Sending and reading SMS messages
- Making calls to contacts
- Reading phone state
- Chrome browser infection
- Changing phone settings
- Switching the mobile to sleep mode
- Access Internet
- Erasing the device's memory (the most critical capability of all) and more.
https://www.secnews.gr/
Using the TOR app, the malware can surf the internet anonymously via the Tor network. Once the malware installs TOR on the victim’s phone, the Mazar BOT sends a “Thank you” message to an Iraqi number (9876543210), along with the device’s location. .
In some cases, the Mazar BOT also installs an Android app called Polipo Proxy, which places a proxy on the device, allowing the malware's creator to spy on the victim's Web traffic and perform Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks.
How to protect myself from Mazar BOT
There are some standard protection measures that you should always take into account to protect yourself as best as possible:
https://www.secnews.gr/101191/%ce%b4%ce%b9%cf%80%ce%bb%cf%8c%cf%84%cf%85%cf%80%ce%b1-%ce%b1%cf%81%cf%87%ce%b5%ce%af%ce%b1-%cf%83%cf%84%ce%bf-pc/btn-large” variation=”btn-info”]See also: Quickly and easily delete duplicate files on your PC! 😉 see how!
- NEVER click on links contained in SMS or MMS messages!
- Go to Settings → Security → Disable the option “Allow installation of apps from sources other than the Play Store”
- Always maintain an up-to-date Anti-virus app on your Android devices.
- Avoid unknown and unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots and keep your Wi-Fi turned off when you are not using it!
