TeaBot Android banking Trojan targets banks in Europe

Malware researchers from Cleafy warn of a new Android banking trojan dubbed TeaBot (aka Anatsa) that is targeting banks in Europe.

Malware experts from the Italian cybersecurity firm Cleafy have spotted a new Android banking trojan dubbed TeaBot (aka Anatsa) that is targeting banks in Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

TeaBot malware appeared in the threat landscape at the beginning of January 2021, it is still under development and according to the researchers, it is able to hijack users’ credentials and SMS messages.

The researchers detected on 29th March 2021, for the first time the inclusion of injections against Italian
banks, and in May the malware targeted Belgium and Netherlands banks.

TeaBot supports the main features of Android banking Trojan and like other similar malware families it abuses
Accessibility Services. Below a list of features implemented by the malware:

Ability to perform Overlay Attacks against multiple banks applications to steal login
credentials and credit card informationAbility to send / intercept / hide SMS messagesEnabling keylogging functionalitiesAbility to steal Google Authentication codesAbility to obtain full remote control of an Android device (via Accessibility Services and realtime screen-sharing)

“The main goal of TeaBot is stealing victim’s credentials and SMS messages for enabling frauds scenarios against a predefined list of banks,” reads the analysis published by Cleafy. “Once TeaBot is successfully installed in the victim’s device, attackers can obtain a live streaming of the device screen (on demand) and also interact with it via Accessibility Services.”

The malicious app masquerades as media and shipment services such as TeaTV, VLC MediaPlayer, Mobdro, DHL, and UPS. Upon launching the app it will download and execute a second-stage payload then it tricks the victim into granting it accessibility service permissions.

TeaBot leverages accessibility service permissions to achieve real-time interaction with the compromised device, to record keystrokes, take screenshots, and perform overlay attacks against multiple bank apps to steal sensitive data.

The report published by the experts also includes IoCs for the threat.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Android)