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Russian Bank Hack: Android Devices Infected With Malware to Steal From Bank Customers

Cyber-criminals in Russia infected Android devices of domestic bank customers with malware and had plans to attack European lenders before they were arrested.

According to a report by Reuters, the campaign of these cyber-criminals raised more than 50 million roubles (or $892,000) — an amount that is relatively small by cybercrime standards. However, they also managed to obtain more sophisticated malicious software that would allow them to go after the clients of banks in France and possibly in other western nations.

Based on the report compiled by cybersecurity firm Group-IB — the team that investigated the attack with the Russian Interiors Ministry — the cyber-criminals tricked the customers of Russian banks into downloading malware using fake mobile banking applications, pornography and e-commerce programs.

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The 16 suspects who were arrested by Russian law enforcement authorities in November 2016 reportedly infected more than a million smartphones in Russia, and compromised an average number of 3,500 devices per day.

The hackers involved with the crime targeted customers of state lender Sberbank, and also stole from the accounts at Alfa Bank and online payments company Qiwi. They exploited the weaknesses in the SMS text message transfer services of these companies.

While the group only operated in Russia before they were arrested, Group-IB claims that "Cron" — the name of the gang which came from the malware it used — also had developed plans to target large European banks such as French lenders Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale. However, no funds were stolen from the customers of these French financial institutions.

According to the Russian Interior Ministry, four people who were arrested in connection with this cyber-hacking case continue to be in detention, while the others were placed under house arrest. During the police raids related to the hack, they also found computers, bank cards and SIM cards registered under fake names.

"Cron's success was due to two main factors," Dmitry Volkov, head of investigations at Group-IB said, according to Reuters. "First, the large-scale use of partner programs to distribute the malware in different ways. Second, the automation of many (mobile) functions which allowed them to carry out the thefts without direct involvement."

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