Mekotio Banking Trojan Threatens Financial Systems in Latin America


The Mekotio banking trojan is a sophisticated piece of malware that has been active since at least 2015, primarily targeting Latin American countries with the goal of stealing sensitive information — particularly banking credentials — from its targets.

Originating in the Latin American region, it has been particularly prolific in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Peru. Furthermore, Mekotio seems to share a common origin with other notable Latin American banking malware such as Grandoreiro, which was disrupted by law enforcement earlier this year. Mekotio is often delivered through phishing emails, employing social engineering to trick users into interacting with malicious links or attachments. Trend Micro recently seen a surge in attacks involving Mekotio among their customers.

Read more…
Source: Trend Micro


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Mobile Banking Trojan FakeToken Resurfaces, Sends Offensive Messages Overseas from Victims’ Accounts

    January 16, 2020

    Researchers recently discovered an updated version of mobile banking trojan FakeToken after detecting around 5,000 smartphones sending offensive text messages overseas. They noted the unusual development this malware has taken, compared to its previously reported update that disguised itself as a ride-hailing app capable of stealing personally identifiable information (PII) as well as its expanded ransomware capabilities. However, ...

  • UK government investigates possible cyberattack link to London Stock exchange outage

    January 6, 2020

    The UK government is reexamining the London Stock Exchange outage to ascertain whether or not a cyberattack, rather than a software glitch, was the cause. The LSE’s outage occurred on August 16, 2019. A “software glitch” was blamed in which Friday early-morning traders were left unable to buy or sell shares for over an hour and a half. Both ...

  • Travelex UK Website Still Down After Cyberattack

    January 3, 2020

    The British website of foreign currency seller Travelex remains offline as of Friday 3 January, after being taken down following a cyber-attack on Monday 30 December (New Years Eve). The good news is that an investigation has shown there is no indication the virus has compromised any personal or customer data. But the fact that nearly a ...

  • Cybercriminals Fill Up on Gas Pump Transaction Scams Ahead of Oct. Deadline

    January 3, 2020

    Gas stations are gearing up for a major change in credit-card fraud liability in October, when they will find themselves on the hook for card-skimming attacks at the pump. In the meantime though, cybercriminals will be targeting pay-at-the-pump point-of-sale mechanisms with a vengeance, researchers say. Fuel pumps represent a last bastion of non-encrypted transactions. Unlike when ...

  • FIN7 Hackers’ BIOLOAD Malware Drops Fresher Carbanak Backdoor

    December 27, 2019

    Malware researchers have uncovered a new tool used by the financially-motivated cybercriminal group known as FIN7 to load fresher builds of the Carbanak backdoor. Dubbed BIOLOAD, the malware loader has a low detection rate and shares similarities with BOOSTWRITE, another loader recently identified to be part of FIN7’s arsenal. The malware relies on a technique called binary planting that ...

  • Lazarus pivots to Linux attacks through Dacls Trojan

    December 17, 2019

    Lazarus, an advanced persistent threat (APT) group, has expanded its reach with the development and use of a Trojan designed to attack Linux systems. The APT, suspected to hail from North Korea, has previously been connected to global cyberattacks and malware outbreaks including the infamous WannaCry rampage, the $80 million Bangladeshi bank heist, and a new campaign impacting financial institutions worldwide. Recent reports ...