What is SharkBot malware and how to protect yourself against it?

More and more people today use their smartphones to conduct financial transactions on a regular basis. That’s one of the reasons why malware targeting smartphones and mobile devices are getting more common.

While most are caught before they can do serious harm, some malware are sophisticated enough that they can be in circulation long enough to do damage. The SharkBot malware is one such example.

What is SharkBot Malware?

First discovered in 2021, the SharkBot malware is a trojan horse malware, i.e. it disguises itself as a legitimate application or software which then allows the malware to infect a device. The malware was found to be targeting crypto apps, especially apps belonging to cryptocurrency exchanges and trading services.

The malware would be able to steal the password and other details when people would login to legitimate cryptocurrency and banking apps, allowing the hackers to withdraw or scam people of all their money. The malware would even manage to steal the two-factor authentication key on the apps it targeted and was found to have downloaded over 100,000 times. While the infected apps and software were banned by Google from its PlayStore, experts have noted that the instances of malware have once again increased.

How to protect yourself against it?

The best way to protect yourself from malware is to ensure that you are only downloading apps and software from trusted developers. While the SharkBot app could ‘steal’ a 2FA key when on your phone, it is still important to have two-factor authentication enabled as it makes the job harder for hackers. Keeping an eye on your financials. Noting any strange transactions and activity is one of the ways that you can become aware of having this malware on your phone.

Also, ensure that your devices are always running the latest software updates as these updates often contain security measures that help shore up previous vulnerabilities that hackers could have been using.

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