Security News > 2023 > June > Android GravityRAT malware now steals your WhatsApp backups
A new Android malware campaign spreading the latest version of GravityRAT has been underway since August 2022, infecting mobile devices with a trojanized chat app named 'BingeChat,' which attempts to steal data from victims' devices.
According to ESET's researcher Lukas Stefanko, who analyzed a sample after receiving a tip from MalwareHunterTeam, one of the notable new additions spotted in the latest version of GravityRAT is stealing WhatsApp backup files.
WhatsApp backups are created to help users port their message history, media files, and data onto new devices, so they can contain sensitive data such as text, video, photos, documents, and more, all in unencrypted form.
GravityRAT has been active since at least 2015 but started targeting Android for the first time in 2020.
Promoting malicious Android APKs to targets is a tactic GravityRAT's operators employed again in 2021, using a chat app called 'SoSafe,' and, before that, another one named 'Travel Mate Pro.'.
While SpaceCobra's campaigns are highly targeted and usually focus on India, all Android users should avoid downloading APKs from outside Google Play and be cautious with risky permission requests while installing any app.
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