Researchers from ThreatFabric have discovered an Android banking malware called “Xenomorph.”
The malicious software, which is embedded in apps on the Google Play Store, has been downloaded 50,000 times. It targets customers of 56 different European banks, including banks in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium.
Some of the malware capabilities include stealing passwords for email accounts and cryptocurrency wallets and intercepting SMS and app notifications to help steal the authentication needed to bypass any MFA used.
One of the apps that has the malware has been identified as a cleaner app. The app offers the promise of speeding up a device by clearing up unused clutter. It has been downloaded more than 50,000 times.
ThreatFabric researchers linked Xenomorph to a fellow Android malware, Alien. This is because the two forms of malware have similar designs. They also use the same HTML resource page to induce victims to grant access privileges.
The malicious app was flagged to Google for removal and removed from the platform shortly afterwards.