Published on April 25, 2024
Vincent Paquette
Computer security researchers from ThreatFabric have identified a new threat lurking in the Android universe. This is Brokewell malware. The latter is hidden in fake security updates. Its aim is to access our banking applications and steal our money.
We know that if you have an Android phone, it is in your best interest to put a good antivirus on it.
Although the Android universe offers more possibilities with its open system, the fact remains that this opens the door to more threats.
One of them is emerging and is called Brokewell.
A virus in fake Chrome updates
This is what we can read in the report published by the cybersecurity firm ThreatFabric.
They identified Brokewell malware by searching for fake Chrome browser updates.
We find ads and pages that try to make us believe that our browser is not up to date and that an update is necessary.
“Impersonating a browser update is a common method used by cybercriminals to trick victims into downloading and installing malware,” reads the ThreatFabric report.
The latter believe that this seemingly “innocent” page will especially fool “unsuspecting” Internet users.
If we click on one of them, we end up installing Brokewell. This is Trojan horse malware.
The latter would still be under development elsewhere. This is far from reassuring when we already see the damage it can do.
Our bank accounts in his sights… and much more!
Once downloaded to our phone, Brokewell will deploy its malicious actions with the aim of stealing our money.
To do this, it will notably create false login pages on top of those of our banking applications.
In this way, we think we are connecting normally, but in reality we turn out to be giving our access to hackers. They can then happily go fishing in our account.
But Brokewell doesn’t stop there.
It will also act as key sensor software. So, everything we type, it will intercept it.
All our accounts are then at less risk of us entering our connection information.
This is without counting all the communications that we share with our loved ones or work colleagues.
It can also activate our phone’s microphone and therefore record all our conversations.
Finally, it can steal our geographic location, but also our phone call history.
In short, this malware acts as real spyware and is able to practically take complete access to our device.
Rarely, ThreatFabric even believes it knows exactly who is behind it.
It would be an individual named Baron Samedit. This hacker is something of a mercenary, as he designs and delivers malicious solutions to the highest bidders.
How to protect yourself from Brokewell?
The first way to protect yourself is to remember that you must always update Android applications in the Google Play Store.
You should never update via a link offered on a web page or in an advertising window.
Finally, as we mentioned from the outset, it is essential to have a good mobile antivirus.
For $15-20 per year, we ensure that our device and our personal data are protected.
These protection solutions identify threats and block them to keep our phone safe.
See our mobile antivirus suggestions
