The Android “Master Key” Exploit
Over the last few days much has been written about a serious security hole in the Android operating system that can give attackers complete access to affected mobile devices. Bluebox, the discoverers of the security hole, estimate that 99% of Android devices since v1.6 are vulnerable to the…
Mobile malware: the "barrier of the beast" is broken
The timing could not have been more appropriate: June 2013, the sixth month of the year 2013. In this sixth month, experts at G Data Security Labs have seen a landmark for evil surpassed – more than 666,666 unique mobile malware programs for the Android platform have now been amassed in their…
A curious phone call – when a help desk scammer offers you a job
A few days ago, someone called my landline number. I saw that the incoming number was ‘unknown’ so I suspected some media representative. However, it turned out to be somebody completely different: a self-proclaimed computer tech support with heavy Indian accent, trying to talk me into following his…
Football enthusiasm can turn into fan frustration
The upcoming UEFA Champions League final is an absolute highlight for German football fans as well as international football followers. The hype surrounding the "Duel of German Giants" is driving up the prices of tickets on the (black) market and is naturally inspiring fraudsters as well.…
Explosions at Boston Marathon inspire cyber attackers
The bomb explosions during the famous marathon in Boston have shocked people around the globe – it is still unclear who is behind them and cyber attackers are shamelessly exploiting this fact. They promise news about the events but transmit malware to unsuspecting users!
A different kind of contact: malware attack instead of an online business card
Most users think that spam emails are mainly used for phishing attacks. That is a fairly reasonable assumption, however, the number of malware attacks initiated using emails is also on the rise. In a recent example of this, attackers used fake LinkedIn contact requests to lure their victims to…
An Easter greeting for you? No, a clever attack strategy!
Just in time for the holidays, cyber attackers have come up with another customised strategy and are sending out thousands of spam emails with apparent parcel delivery notifications. However, the link leads to malicious program code.
Cold Cyber War
The last few months there has been an astounding increase in media attention around the theme ‘cyber war’. From blogs via newspapers on to TV, everywhere we can hear statements about how a cyber war is on the verge of breaking out. But is that true?
Gozi goes 64-bit
For some time, banking Trojan Gozi has been using interesting technologies to implement its man-in-the-browser functionality, or MITB for short. Banking Trojans use the MITB form of attack to manipulate the network traffic between a customer and their bank in order to steal the customer's money. On…
Android malware infects Windows PCs with spy bot!
The development of Android malware recently reached a new milestone. Android malware Android.Backdoor.Ssucl.A can use some Android mobile devices to attack Windows PCs as soon as the infected mobile device is connected to the PC via USB cable. It also uses a number of remotely controlled functions…
Karsten Hahn
Virus Analyst
Tim Berghoff
Security Evangelist
