Banking Malware on YouTube Vanced, delete it immediately!

A new Android banking trojan called Nexus was discovered by Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL) and cybersecurity firm Cleafy (through Tom's Guide).

It first appeared last June and is now being openly advertised by its creators on hacker forums to increase its reach. Nexus' primary targets are 450 banking and cryptocurrency apps.

It is distributed through phishing websites impersonating its legitimate websites YouTube Advanced, a defunct third-party YouTube app. It uses all known tricks to obtain your bank information and understand your financial accounts.

Nexus asks for 50 permissions and abuses at least 14 of them!

It is capable of performing cloaking attacks, i.e. duplicating a legitimate one interface to trick you into entering your credentials, and uses keylogging to record your keystrokes. It can even intercept SMS messages to gain access to two-factor authentication codes and can abuse Accessibility Services to steal information from wallets encryptions, 2-step verification codes generated by Google Authenticator and website cookies. The trojan can also delete received messages.

Once installed on a device, Nexus connects to the command and control server (C2). C2s are used by cybercriminals to control malware, launch attacks, and λήψη stolen data.

Nexus is said to be in beta stage, but it is already being used by many threat actors to carry out malicious activities. Cybercriminals who don't know how to make their own malware can rent it for $3.000 a month.

The developer appears to be from a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country and has banned the use of the trojan in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Indonesia.

Nexus is capable of updating itself and Cleafy believes it is a real threat and can infect hundreds of Android devices in the world.

To protect yourself from infections, try to only download apps from Google Play and enable Google Play Protect. Use strong passwords and enable biometric security features where possible and be very careful when granting permissions.