South Korea Plagued With Mobile Banking Malware

A fast-spreading mobile banking Trojan malware has crippled over 100,000 mobile banking users in South Korea, according to reports.

The Trojan malware pretends to be a popular Korean game available for download over Android platform with the intention of tricking mobile users into downloading the game, according to the Security Research Lab of Cheetah Mobile.

Upon installation, the malware looks for mobile banking apps on the host mobile and generates faux updates. Once the user approves, a convincing fake app replaces the authentic banking app, which requests standard security information from the user that is required per South Korean government’s mobile banking standards.

According to FineExtra.com, the hoax app, which affected over 3,000 users last month, asks the mobile user for personal data like account numbers, passwords and card security data, before closing with a “No Wi-Fi connection. Use 3G or try to connect to the W-Fi again,” message.

The website reports over 2,000 variations of the malware have been identified by CM security researchers.

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