Track Common Adversary Tasks Performed Using Agent Smith

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 






To know more about it, you can go through my detailed document by clicking here






Overview

Agent Smith is an Android mobile malware that performs fraudulent activities by changing the legitimate applications on devices with their malicious versions. It has approximately infected more than 25 million devices till now and mainly targets India, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA, and other Asian countries.

Attack Technique

Although, Agent Smith is generally used for financial gain via bogus advertisements, it can also be used for other harmful purposes like banking credential thefts and there is a long list of ways for this malware to harm a user's device. There are following steps involved in its attack:
  • Firstly, a Dropper app invites or attracts a victim to download it voluntarily.
  • Then, this app starts to install its malware that does malicious patching and app updates.
  • Lastly, when the target app is identified, it will patch it with malicious ads modules, replace, and reinstall it as if it's the original one. 

Remedy

Agent Smith is capable of harming a device in so many ways that, it's very difficult to mitigate it. Today it shows unwanted ads, tomorrow it can hack your personal messages, banking credentials, and much more. All these possibilities suggests that in order to build a more secure Android eco-system, the system developers, device manufacturers, app developers, and users, all have to make simultaneous efforts whenever a vulnerability is fixed, patched, and reinstalled in time.  










To know more about it, you can go through my detailed document by clicking here





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