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If you’re an Android phone user, beware of the fake Telegram app that will seriously compromise your privacy.
Every now and again a particular IT virus seems to make the headlines more than the others; most recently that’s been the fake Telegram app which is putting the data and privacy of Android users at risk.
Read on to find out what to look out for with the latest fake Telegram app scam.
According to Telegram, in 2022 it became one of the top-5 downloaded apps worldwide, with more than 700 million monthly active users. The popularity of the app makes it a big target for cyber criminals because of the size of the amount of data they can retrieve with so many people using it.
This scam uses two popular and legitimate communication tools to act as a front for their cyber-criminal activity.
Shangle is a free to use video chat platform that enables strangers to talk via an encrypted communications channel. It is an entirely web-based tool, with no mobile app services.
Cybercriminals have used a fake Shangle Android mobile app that unsuspecting victims have downloaded, not realising there is no Shangle app. This app is then used to distribute an ad encouraging people to download a fake Telegram app which contains a trojan virus. This acts as a backdoor for the hackers to gather a wide variety of data from users.
Global digital security company ESET believes that StongPity APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) is responsible for the fake Telegram threat.
Once you’ve downloaded the fake Telegram app, the trojan virus it contains allows StrongPity to access other apps on your phone. It contains 11 binary modules to perform a number of actions on the device it’s been downloaded to.
Once it has access, the cybercriminals will be able to record calls, get call lists and details of contacts. It will be able to collect sms messages, obtain device location and system info and collect a list of installed apps.
Once the virus is on your systems it will also access incoming notifications and will be able to exfiltrate communications from a range of other apps, such as Skype, Gmail, Messenger, Instagram, Twitter.
It’s believed that the majority of people who end up at the fake Shangle site, from which they can download the fake Telegram app, do so via phishing emails or smishing.
The fake Telegram app never made it to the Google store and was only available to download from a fake website, which emphasises the importance of not loading apps from a third party.
Business that are concerned about their employees becoming victims of this or similar scams need to ensure that they are educating their employees.
Clear policies and procedures that are regularly shared with employees can help raise awareness; detail your expectations to ensure everyone follows the company guidelines that will protect them and the business; and ensure they know who to talk to if they have concerns that their systems may have been compromised, or that an email looks dodgy.
Part of your IT policy should be guidance on your stance around allowing employees to use their own devices for work reasons, or putting personal and social apps and tools on their work devices.
The best approach is to keep work and personal material separate but where this isn’t possible, it’s essential that employee devices are fully protected and their actions are not putting business security and data at risk.
Training is also an essential part of building employees’ awareness and knowledge of cyber threats. We all know they are out there, but people are often surprised about how sophisticated some of the scams are, how easily they are disguised within our day-to-day life and how simple it is to fall victim to them.
Keeping employees appraised of risks and the security measures at their disposal will ensure that you are helping to protect yourself from one of the biggest risks to your business’ security and resilience.
Whether it’s by supporting you to build your defensive IT systems and protect against cyber threats, through Cyber Essentials Accreditation or by training your team to make them part of your defences against cybercrime, we acn help.
Our Syn-Star cybersecurity experts partner with you to build on best practices in your business and ensure you are kept aware of the latest IT threats.
With the right defences in place, we will create a safe working environment that protects your employees, clients and business partners.
Get in touch today and chat to one of our team about how we can build your IT defences to stop something like the fake Telegram scam from slipping through.
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