Mobile phone Trojans pose a global threat. According to the Hong Kong police, the number of Trojan spy apps increased from 47,000 to 68,000 in the first three quarters of last year. The police and Interpol cooperated to expose 563 Trojans and 258 servers involved in illegal activities Criminals will use banking, dating, and camera apps as packages to lure users into downloading them. Hackers can obtain mobile phone location, address book, SMS, photo library, etc., and can also activate the monitoring function to record in real time. If the device is removed, Interpol will investigate and pursue him.
From February to December last year, the Cyber Crime Bureau of the Police Force launched the "Phantom Flame" operation. Together with Interpol, they discovered 563 Trojan horse spy applications targeting mobile phone systems, which were related to 258 servers around the world.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Operation "Phantom Flame" reveals 563 Trojan programs and 258 illegal servers
The Cyber Crime Bureau of the Police Force launched Operation "Phantom Flame" from February to December last year. Together with Interpol, they discovered 563 Trojan horse spy applications targeting mobile phone systems, which were related to 258 global servers, of which 192 involved local servers. , and the remaining 66 are overseas.
Packaged with fake banking, finance, media player, dating, and camera apps
During the operation, the police found that criminals would fake phishing text messages from official organizations and package them with banking, finance, media playback, dating, camera and other applications to induce downloading of Trojan horse programs, one of which was called "NH Bank". The program fakes the App of the Bank of Korea. When the user enters personal information, phone number, etc. as usual, the data will be sent to the hacker control platform. The hacker can use the software to spy on the location, address book, SMS, and photo library of the user's mobile phone, and can even detect the camera There are even real-time audio recordings for monitoring functions.
One of them is a Trojan horse program named "NH Bank", which fakes the Bank of Korea app and can extract data from mobile phones.
(Photo by Kong Fanxu)
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The police removed all servers involved in the case, criminals are active in mainland China, Hong Kong and Cambodia
Criminals are active in Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, Russia, Cambodia, and mainland China, stealing and temporarily storing the data in the mobile phones of 519 overseas victims, and then sending them to 153 overseas command and control servers for decentralized storage.
The police have removed all servers involved in the case, and information about overseas servers, registrants, and victims has been handed over to Interpol for follow-up investigation.
From February to December last year, the Cyber Crime Bureau of the Police Force launched the "Phantom Flame" operation. Together with Interpol, they discovered 563 Trojan horse spy applications targeting mobile phone systems, which were related to 258 servers around the world.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
Cybercrime Colin Cheuk-ho: The source must be banned to prevent criminals from committing crimes in Hong Kong
Senior Superintendent Lam Cheuk-ho of the Cyber Crime Division (Internet Security, Forensic Forensics and Training) said that all the victims in this operation were foreigners. Crack down at the source, criminals will still commit crimes in Hong Kong, and the police will continue to communicate with Interpol.
Superintendent Fan Junye of the Internet Crime Division (Internet Security Team) pointed out that when criminals obtain private photos, bank card information and password screenshots in the mobile phone photo library, they have the opportunity to blackmail and transfer money, and they are more likely to put the information on the dark web Sale.
Cai Dihui, Director of Threat Protection Technology Asia Pacific of Check Point Software Technology Co., Ltd., suggested that citizens should not download programs from unknown sources, download certified developer programs from official channels, do not give programs excessive permissions, pay attention to mobile phone power consumption and monitor network traffic Is there any abnormal increase, etc.
Tips for Anti-Trojan and Spy Programs
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Do not download programs from unknown sources
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Download programs from certified developers from official channels
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Don't give too many permissions to the program
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Pay attention to whether the power consumption of the mobile phone has increased abnormally
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Monitor network traffic for abnormal increases
Lam Cheuk-ho, Senior Superintendent of the Cyber Crime Division (Internet Security, Forensic Forensics and Training), said that criminals will still commit crimes in Hong Kong if they cannot be banned at the source, and the police will continue to communicate with Interpol.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
What is a Trojan horse program?
A backdoor program, which is used by hackers to steal other users' personal information, and even remotely control the other party's electronic devices
What are the common packaging methods of mobile phone Trojan horse programs and spy programs?
Fake phishing text messages from official organizations, or use fake banking, finance, media player, dating, camera and other apps to lure you into downloading
Xiao Zeyi pointed out that the police force will cooperate fully to maintain national security. Lin Zhiwei said that he must be self-improving after being "devilized".
