The researchers in the city of Norway have been highly successful in discovering the Android vulnerability which can be exploited to use any application to steal data or credentials. The problem with this is that it can lead to significant losses for the organization as well as the customers if not taken seriously. So, taking this particular situation seriously is important and the name of this particular challenge is Strandhogg which has been derived from old NORSE language After the VIKING tactic of coastal raiding which was done with the intent of capturing the livestock. Having a good understanding of the motives in this particular case is important so that things are very well sorted out right from day 1. Researchers in the city of Norway very well say that the Strandhogg problem will allow the attackers to launch sophisticated attacks without any requirement for an android device to be rooted and the attackers in this case will be exploiting the operating system control of the entire application which could be very much problematic to be managed later on.
This particular Android vulnerability is very well exploited in the wild as well as malicious applications because it will be stealing the banking and login credentials of the device user. According to Android security researchers, whenever the users open the application on the device it will display a very fake user interface over the actual application. Further, it will trick users into thinking that they are using a legitimate application. Therefore, whenever any user types their username and password to log into the application, it will potentially steal the data and the attacker will receive data instantly from the device to gain accessibility over the sensitive applications.
The Strandhogg trojan has made the government take the notice of entire system as well which is the main reason that numbers in India are consistently increasing in terms of the number of smartphone users. It is very important for people to take the element of penetration of mobile phones into the population very seriously so that everything will be proficiently sorted out and the information was very well backed by research from the threat analytical unit of the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre in the Home Ministry. Approximately more than 500 applications are at risk of this particular issue because hackers are consistently using it to deploy attacks on mobile phone users. Alerts has also been sent to all of the senior police efficient to sensitize them about the threat because in this way steps can be perfectly taken by the people to create awareness among the public about this particular problem
In the United States of America, the New Jersey Cyber Security and Communication Integration Cell is also taking this particular concept seriously in addition to the basic threat analysis so that incident reporting and component organization will be very well done. The experts also issued an advisory to the users in terms of refraining from downloading suspicious applications on third-party apps. They even asked the users to have a good understanding of the lookout of behavior so that device infection would be sorted out and there is no chance of any kind of problem
What are the basic details you need to know about the working of Strandhogg?
According to the researchers, Strandhogg basically is a mistake that will happen during multitasking, and specifically, this will happen when the user is consistently switching between multiple tasks and processes. The end operating system is consistently using it as a technique of task reparenting which will divert the processing power of the processor towards the application which is currently being used on the screen. Strandhogg is activated whenever the user is tapping on the genuine application but the malicious coding in the application will be fired up at the same point in time. Researchers very well say that they have already seen this particular scenario in use and further it will never require the accessibility of the device because it can easily work on all of the versions of the Android operating system.
According to the research, malicious applications are being consistently distributed through the Google Play Store and other associated aspects as well which leads to significant issues if not paid attention to. So, the legitimate-looking dropper in this case will be installing the malware that will be taking advantage of the Strandhogg issue. Researchers have very well discovered that 36 malicious applications are consistently using the vulnerability in the form of Strandhogg and have been distributed on the Google Play Store. After the researchers alerted Google about all of these applications, they were removed from the App Store but however, but until December 2019 Google has not successfully developed any patch for this issue. Researchers also say that they are also having the real evidence of attackers using this particular issue and creating serious damage to the companies which is the main reason that taking it seriously is definitely advisable for every company.
It is very much important for the companies to deal with the problems of Strandhogg very successfully and use it as a mobile application security layer like Appsealing so that overall protection will be significantly given a great boost and best-in-class applications will be launched in the industry. From the past few years, the screen overlay attacks on banking applications have also significantly increased and this is further based upon ubiquitous techniques being used by hackers. So, in this case, people need to have a good hold over the basic Strandhogg vulnerability because it represents a very real challenge for Android banking users as well as the users of the crypto. So, taking it seriously and eliminating it is definitely important for the companies, and further, as a user, it is definitely important for people to focus on backing up the data after regular intervals of time. Hence, to promote overall application support and protection it is always important for people to remain in touch with the experts of the industry so that the best possible resolutions can be perfectly introduced from time to time.
