Mazar: The Android malware comes with a text message and gets rid of the data

Last updated Jun 23, 2017 584

Discovered a new Android malware that spreads via SMS/MMS taking the smartphone control. Who leads the attack may cancel your smartphone data, spy on user activity, make calls and read messages.

Mazar is the name of a recently malware identified by Danish security company that could pose a significant threat for owners of an Android device. The malware, which can be spread via text messages, can obtain administrator privileges of the affected smartphone, allowing deletion of data stored in them, make phone calls and reading text messages. Heimdal, the security company that discovered Mazar, believes that only in Denmark’s text messages that you make a vehicle for the propagation of Mazar have been sent to more than 100,000 smartphones, but the malware distribution area is not yet fully defined.

Heimdal explains the technique used by Mazar: the user receives what appears to be in effect a harmless message SMS / MMS. By activating the link in the message, the victim unknowingly download the Tor software, which enables internet connection’s anonymous smartphone. Later, the malware itself is downloaded via Tor in order to disguise the origin of malicious software. They would not be at risk, the company adds, Android smartphones in which was set the Russian language in the operating system.

The text message can be structured as follows :

You have received a multimedia message from [country code] [sender number] Follow the link http: //www.mmsforyou [.] Net / mms.apk to view the message.

Infected Android smartphones are exposed to a variety of risks: who completes the attack could be limited to secretly monitoring the activities carried out with the device, read the user’s text messages, proceed to erase all the data stored in the smartphone, but also make phone calls to numbers that give access to very expensive pay services.

The company’s relationship to the Danish security does not offer a complete picture of the Android smartphone at risk of being attacked with Mazar. The tests were carried out using smartphone with Android 4.4 KitKat, although Heimdal believes that previous versions of Google’s mobile operating system may be infected with Mazar. Nothing is said, unfortunately, later versions to KitKat. The threat in any case is not negligible since the Android KitKat devices still constitute the most widespread by examining the entire installed base of Android terminals.

The threat and the risks are high, but, fortunately, also the remedy is not particularly complicated and goes through the right dose of common sense that should guide you in managing content transmitted from your smartphone. In the presence of text messages that contain links to web pages, from unknown sources, it is not enough to open the link. The threat in any case become more insidious if the attack is conducted using spoofing techniques, in which case the message could apparently come from a known contact.