Android Malware Spoofs Uber's Interface to Steal Your Login

Security researchers have spotted Android malware with an appetite for Uber login information.

The trojan, which has been circulating on 3rd-party app stores, goes later phone numbers and passwords for users of the ride-hailing service, according to the security house Symantec.

SecurityWatch In one case downloaded, the malware volition spoof an Uber application interface over the phone'due south screen that asks for the login credentials. However, any data entered will really be sent off to a remote server nether the command of the malware's developers.

The malware is likewise quite persistent; the imitation interface will pop up in regular intervals until the telephone'south possessor finally enters their login information, Symantec said in a weblog mail service.

Later the credentials are entered, the malware employs another trick: it'll trigger the existent Uber app to launch and activate a ride request. All of this looks like normal activity, simply in reality information technology'southward the malware attempting to fool you lot into thinking zilch is wrong, Symantec said.

"This case again demonstrates malware authors' never-catastrophe quest for finding new social engineering techniques to fox and steal from unwitting users," the company added.

Symantec didn't say why the malware'southward developers are targeting Uber users. Only in the past, stolen Uber accounts have been sold on the digital blackness market for around $4, giving buyers a inexpensive way to take car rides with the service.

The good news is that Symantec hasn't plant this app on the official Google Play Store. "Users are likely in Russian-speaking countries in express number. Nosotros don't anticipate such an app to be in broad scale distribution," the company said.

Nonetheless, the trojan serves as a reminder it'due south best to download mobile software from official app stores, which have far less malware than third-political party app stores.