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Android Security

Android iBanking Malware Still Fetches $5,000 25

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the malware-for-the-rich-and-famous dept.
itwbennett (1594911) writes "Symantec and RSA published details on their blogs on Tuesday about the iBanking Android program, which is being used by two Eastern European cybercrime groups to intercept one-time SMS passcodes used for logging into bank accounts. IBanking's source code was leaked in February, which should have caused its price to drop. But its developer has continued to develop iBanking and provide support, and the malware is still commanding $5,000 per copy, one of the highest prices seen for a type of malware, according to research from Symantec."
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Android iBanking Malware Still Fetches $5,000 More

Android iBanking Malware Still Fetches $5,000

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  • Price and volume (Score:3)

    by jamesl ( 106902 ) on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @12:48PM (#47057451)

    IBanking sells for around $5,000 or for a cut of the proceeds from theft it facilitates, Symantec wrote.

    Like all these stories, $5,000 may be the "sticker" or asking price. How many sold at this price or at any price is the important metric.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jopsen ( 885607 )

      Like all these stories, $5,000 may be the "sticker" or asking price. How many sold at this price or at any price is the important metric.

      The market for this kind of software is fairly small.. so 5k is very cheap... it's probably not feasible to hire real developers to do this.
      I wouldn't be surprised if this guy could be making more money making enterprise software. SharePoint plugins, various CMS plugins, etc...

      To a petty thief 5k is a lot of money, but for a legitimate business it's rather cheap, compared to doing any kind of development.

    • This is why you should never give out your IP address over the Internet.

  • Source or no souce, if you can't use it... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @01:07PM (#47057653)

    I cannot speak for this special case, since I lack the detailed info, but in general, those 5k bucks usually give you more than just the program. Such groups usually sell the whole package, including servers, server software, malware and for a little more money also a spam service to carpet bomb mail addresses with the malware spam.

    In other words, you needn't be in any way apt with computers to commit "cybercrimes" anymore. You can get the "for dummies" package, including detailed step by step instructions how to use it.

    Why those groups don't simply do it themselves and sell it instead? First, it's more profitable. And second, it's legal (for them at least, might be different in your country) to sell the software, but not to use it.

    I don't know why, but it does start to remind me of drug cartels.

  • I've always thought tying accounts to your phone, via SMS or Phone number was a really dumb idea. Especially when the pervasive attitude is for apps to collect as much information about you as possible and read text messages. Combined with the fact that phone numbers are moved and traded all the time from person to person... Just a bad idea overall in my opinion.

  • actual write-up on the iBanking bot (Score:3)

    by Aryeh Goretsky ( 129230 ) on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @03:03PM (#47058849) Homepage
    Hello,

    The ITWorld article didn't mention it, so here's a link to the actual write-up on the bot, which is actually called Android/Spy.Agent.AF: Facebook Webinject Leads to iBanking Mobile Bot [welivesecurity.com].

    Regards,

    Aryeh Goretsky

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