The latest research by security firm, Kaspersky, found a new group of ‘bad actors’ who have an exploit to target Facebook accounts of Android users. Interestingly, the report says that there are two separate exploits working simultaneously in order to achieve the same goal.
In their blog post, Kaspersky says that the goal of the attackers are to gain unauthorized access to Facebook accounts by acquiring root access and establishing comms link on a Command and Control (C&C) server.
Facebook, like many other apps, uses an identifying code or dropped cookies on the user’s device. This means that the user’s device is recognized automatically each time they log in and will not require entering a user ID/password.
Of course, this method doesn’t give the hackers access to a Facebook account as there is no way you can enter the social media network without credentials. However, they can compromise an account by hijacking an Android device that uses a proxy server.
This way, the hackers can easily access the account, even when they are sitting someplace else.
Facebook acknowledged the findings of Kaspersky and recommended the users to update their apps to the latest version of Android and iOS in order to receive maximum protection.
Photo: ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty Images / Getty Images
Read next: Google Pixel and One Plus Remains On Top In Android 10 Report Card, Samsung Makes Surprising Improvements!
In their blog post, Kaspersky says that the goal of the attackers are to gain unauthorized access to Facebook accounts by acquiring root access and establishing comms link on a Command and Control (C&C) server.
Facebook, like many other apps, uses an identifying code or dropped cookies on the user’s device. This means that the user’s device is recognized automatically each time they log in and will not require entering a user ID/password.
Of course, this method doesn’t give the hackers access to a Facebook account as there is no way you can enter the social media network without credentials. However, they can compromise an account by hijacking an Android device that uses a proxy server.
This way, the hackers can easily access the account, even when they are sitting someplace else.
"By combining these two attacks, cybercriminals can gain complete control over the victim’s account and not raise a suspicion from Facebook.", explained two researchers on Kaspersky blog. Adding further, "These threats are only just starting to spread, and the number of victims, according to our data, does not exceed 1000, but the figure is growing."The report stresses the fact that there is no vulnerability in the Facebook app which is causing the attacks. In fact, a similar method can be used to steal cookie files from any other app and achieve synonymous results.
Facebook acknowledged the findings of Kaspersky and recommended the users to update their apps to the latest version of Android and iOS in order to receive maximum protection.
Photo: ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty Images / Getty Images
Read next: Google Pixel and One Plus Remains On Top In Android 10 Report Card, Samsung Makes Surprising Improvements!
