Security News > 2023 > February > Experts Warn of RambleOn Android Malware Targeting South Korean Journalists

Suspected North Korean nation-state actors targeted a journalist in South Korea with a malware-laced Android app as part of a social engineering campaign.

The findings come from South Korea-based non-profit Interlab, which coined the new malware RambleOn.

The spyware camouflages as a secure chat app called Fizzle, but in reality, acts as a conduit to deliver a next-stage payload hosted on pCloud and Yandex.

The primary purpose of RambleOn is to function as a loader for another APK file while also requesting for intrusive permissions to collect files, access call logs, intercept SMS messages, record audio, and location data.

The secondary payload, for its part, is designed to provide an alternative channel for accessing the infected Android device using Firebase Cloud Messaging as a command-and-control mechanism.

Interlab said it identified overlaps in the FCM functionality between RambleOn and FastFire, a piece of Android spyware that was attributed to Kimsuky by South Korean cybersecurity company S2W last year.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2023/02/experts-warn-of-rambleon-android.html