Haken

The Haken threat is a piece of malware designed to target Android devices. This threat appears to be masked as the legitimate applications that are being distributed on the official Google Play Store. Unfortunately, despite the security measures put in place by the developers of the Google Play Store, countless cybercriminals still managed to propagate their threatening creations via the official platform associated with the Android OS. Malware researchers have spotted eight applications on the Google Play Store that contain the harmful code of the Haken threat. The applications affiliated with the Haken malware seem to have boosted numbers artificially in regards to their ratings and downloads. Many authors of threatening applications use bots to boost their stats and make their shady creations look legitimate and trustworthy. Whenever you are considering downloading a new application, check if the ratings and comments appear to be genuine and written by real users or just fake posts generated by bots.

Capabilities

The Haken threat is listed as a ‘clicker’ malware. This means that the threat can interact with applications installed on the user’s device. Therefore,the Haken malware can:

• Change the settings of the application.
• Browse menus and content.
• Click on buttons and links.

These abilities would allow the Haken threat to make in-application purchases that the user never requested. This means that the Haken malware can spend the money of the user silently without them ever realizing until they check their bank accounts. The Haken threat may end up subscribing users into a variety of overpriced, unnecessary services. To minimize the chances of the user spotting that anything shady is going on, the Haken threat will attempt to hide the confirmation prompts.

Requests an Unusual Amount of Permissions

The applications that contain the code of the Haken malware are known to demand permissions that they are not meant to request, such as access to the device’s camera or microphone. Upon launching a new application, some users rush and simply grant all permissions requested without looking into the demands. This can prove to be a rather threatening game to play, having in mind that unsafe applications rely on this to get more control over the compromised device. The Haken malware also is known to have the capability to take screenshots of the user’s screen. This means that the attackers can collect data such as banking details, login credentials, personal information, etc.

Make sure your Android device is protected by a genuine anti-malware solution compatible with your OS. Also, be very careful when you are downloading new applications, even if they come from the official Google Play Store.