Chinese website sells stolen data from Android malware

A Chinese website has been discovered selling data stolen by a new malware that is victimizing phones and devices running Google Inc.’s popular Android operating system. Computer security firm Trend Micro said the website offers mobile phone monitoring tools and services that allow customers to retrieve information. “However, such services are not cheap and can cost from $300 to $540 (P12,766 to P22,979)," Trend Micro said in a blog post. Trend Micro did not provide the URL of the website, however. Trend Micro hinted that the site may be selling data stolen by several variants of the NICKISPY malware that can monitor a phone’s activities like SMS, phone calls, and location. “Once a customer decides to employ the service, he or she will get an account to log into a backend server of the service, where information gathered from a target device can be viewed," it said. The backend service can be accessed through a portal, where the user must first send an MMS message that includes malware as an attachment to a victim’s mobile phone number. Once installed on the victim’s mobile phone the malware will be used to monitor for information related to SMS messages, phone calls, device location, and email messages. It then sends back reports to the backend service, which can then be accessed by the customer through the portal. “Note that the customer may choose which number will be displayed as the sender of the MMS message. Using a number that the victim is familiar with may convince the victim that he or she is receiving a normal MMS message, and be completely unaware that a malware was already installed in their device," Trend Micro said. Also, Trend Micro said the service offers more than the typical spying tools. It cited an advertisement on the portal claiming the operators also offer the service to those who want to spy on someone using a phone running on Symbian, or Windows Mobile. “The spying business seems to be booming for the mobile threat landscape, thus, users are strongly advised to secure their devices, and make sure that there are no spying applications installed," it said. — TJD, GMA News