Headline
NCC Discovers New Ways Hackers Steal Banking Details From Phone, Warns Nigerians
Published
4 years agoon
By
Editor
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) has discovered a newly-hatched malicious software that steals users’ banking app login credentials on Android devices.
According to a security advisory from the NCC CSIRT, the malicious software called “Xenomorph”, found to target 56 financial institutions from Europe, has high impact and high vulnerability rate.
The main intent of this malware is to steal credentials, combined with the use of SMS and Notification interception to log-in and use potential 2-factor authentication tokens.
Xenomorph is propagated by an application that was slipped into Google Play store and masquerading as a legitimate application called “Fast Cleaner” ostensibly meant to clear junk, increase device speed and optimize battery. In reality, this app is only a means by which the Xenomorph Trojan could be propagated easily and efficiently.
To avoid early detection or being denied access to the PlayStore, “Fast Cleaner” was disseminated before the malware was placed on the remote server, making it hard for Google to determine that such an app is being used for malicious actions.
Once up and running on a victim’s device, Xenomorph can harvest device information and Short Messaging Service (SMS), intercept notifications and new SMS messages, perform overlay attacks, and prevent users from uninstalling it. The threat also asks for Accessibility Services privileges, which allow it to grant itself further permissions.
READ ALSO: NCC Alerts Nigerians On Flubot Malware, Lists Measures To Guard Against Attack
The CSIRT said the malware also steals victims’ banking credentials by overlaying fake login pages on top of legitimate ones. Considering that it can also intercept messages and notifications, it allows its operators to bypass SMS-based two-factor authentication and log into the victims’ accounts without alerting them.
“Xenomorph has been found to target 56 internet banking apps, 28 from Spain, 12 from Italy, 9 from Belgium, and 7 from Portugal, as well as Cryptocurrency wallets and general-purpose applications like emailing services.
“The Fast Cleaner app has now been removed from the Play Store but not before it garnered 50,000+ downloads,” the CSIRT security advisory asserted.
“The Nigerian Communications Commission hereby wishes to advise telecom consumers to be on alert in order not to fall victim to this manipulation.
Accordingly, the NCC urges telecom consumers and other Internet users, particularly those using Android-powered devices to use trusted Antivirus solutions and update them regularly to their latest definitions.
The Commission also implored consumers and other stakeholders to always update banking applications to their most recent versions.
You may like
Headline
India Issues Health Alert After Spike In ‘brain-eating’ Amoeba Deaths
Published
4 hours agoon
September 18, 2025By
Editor
India has issued a health alert after infections and deaths caused by a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba doubled compared to last year in the southern state of Kerala.
Numbers are still tiny but Altaf Ali, a doctor who is part of a government task force to arrest the spread, told AFP that officials were “conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases”.
Officials reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone.
READ ALSO:India Test-fires Ballistic Missile, Capable Of Reaching All Of China
Last year, the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says it is often called a “brain-eating amoeba” because it can “infect the brain and destroy brain tissue”.
If the amoeba reaches the brain, it can cause an infection that kills over 95 per cent of those affected.
Infections are “very rare but nearly always fatal”, the CDC notes.
READ ALSO:Indian Man Gets Death Sentence For Burning Wife Alive Over Skin Colour
The amoeba lives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. It does not spread from person to person.
The World Health Organisation says that symptoms include headache, fever and vomiting, which rapidly progresses to “seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations, and coma”.
“It’s worrying that new cases this year have emerged from across the state, as opposed to specific pockets in the past,” Ali said.
Since 1962, nearly 500 cases have been reported worldwide, mostly in the United States, India, Pakistan, and Australia.
AFP
Headline
Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger
Published
1 day agoon
September 17, 2025By
Editor
Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.
The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.
A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.
“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
READ ALSO:Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial
Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.
“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.
Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.
Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.
READ ALSO:Nigerian Jailed In US Over $6m Inheritance Fraud
Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.
The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.
Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.
Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.
AFP
Headline
Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy
Published
2 days agoon
September 16, 2025By
Editor
Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.
The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.
“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.
READ ALSO:FG Panel Indicts AFN In Ofili’s Paris Olympics Omission
Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.
The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.
The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.
READ ALSO:NDLEA Arrests Indian Businessman, 3 Others Over Alleged Trafficking Of N3.9bn Tramadol
The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.
That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.
In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.
AFP
- Court Restrains EDSIEC, Edo Govt From Conducting LG By-elections
- JUST IN: Kenya Airways Pays NCAA Sanction Fee For Passenger’s Rights Violations
- Flood: Residents Chide Edo Govt Over Failure To Show Concern
- NAF Airstrikes Kill Scores Of Terrorists, Destroy Hideout In Borno
- Police Arrest Islamic Cleric With Human Flesh In Oyo
- India Issues Health Alert After Spike In ‘brain-eating’ Amoeba Deaths
- PHOTO: Rivers Residents Throng Govt House To Welcome Fubara
- Rivers: Supporters Disappointed As Fubara Fails To Show Up
- Police Disown Viral Recruitment Notice, Warn Against Fraud
- Fake Madman Arrested For Cultivating Cannabis Farm In Anambra
Trending
- Entertainment4 days ago
200-level Student Wins Car As MTN Thrills UNIBEN With Campus Invasion
- News2 days ago
10 Things Candidates Should Know About Customs Recruitment CBT Exams
- Business4 days ago
Falana Reveals Those Behind Subsidy Removal
- Politics4 days ago
Alleged Infidelity: Soludo’s Wife Issues Senator Ekwunife Ultimatum To Apologize
- News4 days ago
Ossiomo Restores Power To Customers After Barely Two Weeks Outage
- Politics5 days ago
ADC Will Take Over Aso Rock, Lagos Govt House In 2027 — Aregbesola
- News1 day ago
Air Peace Announces Recruitment For 1,000 Fresh Graduates [SEE How To APPLY]
- Business3 days ago
Dangote Fuel Sells Cheaper In Togo Than In Nigeria – Falana Laments
- Headline5 days ago
What To Know About Albania’s AI Minister, Diella
- Sports4 days ago
Idahosa Hails Insurance 1-0 Thrashing Of Niger Tornadoes