Mobile beasts and where to find them — part four

[harlan4096]

• Mobile beasts and where to find them — part one: Adware, subscribers, flooders, DDoSers.
  
• Mobile beasts and where to find them — part two: Ransomware, wipers, miners.
  
• Mobile beasts and where to find them — part three: Spyware, keyloggers, banking Trojans.
  

In part four of our study of mobile threats, we discuss the most complex and dangerous types of malware — the ones that not only exploit Android capabilities, but are also able to tune your system to their taste and combine multiple malicious functions.

RATs — remote access Trojans

RAT by name, rat by nature. Remote administration tools (RATs) can be used to connect to a remote device on the network and not only view the screen contents, but also take full control, issuing commands from remote input devices (keyboard/mouse on a computer; touch screen on a smartphone).

RATs were initially created with good intentions — to help manage various settings and apps, well, remotely. After all, it is far easier for tech support staff to select the right check boxes and settings themselves rather than trying to explain to the user what to do over the phone — and even easier for the user.

But in cybercriminals’ hands, RATs are transformed into a formidable weapon: Installing a Trojan on your smartphone that provides someone with remote access to the gadget is like giving the keys to your apartment to a stranger. The malicious use of RATs is so common that the acronym increasingly stands for “remote access Trojan.”

Full reading: https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/mobile-ma...t-4/24290/