CanesSpy Spyware Discovered in Modified WhatsApp Versions

Cybersecurity researchers have unearthed a quantity of WhatsApp mods for Android that come equipped with a adware module dubbed CanesSpy.

These modified variations of the fast messaging application have been observed propagated by using sketchy sites marketing these kinds of application as well as Telegram channels utilized primarily by Arabic and Azerbaijani speakers, one of which boasts 2 million customers.

“The trojanized consumer manifest consists of suspicious elements (a provider and a broadcast receiver) that can not be discovered in the authentic WhatsApp consumer,” Kaspersky security researcher Dmitry Kalinin reported.

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Especially, the new additions are intended to activate the adware module when the phone is switched on or commences charging.

It subsequently proceeds to create call with a command-and-regulate (C2) server, followed by sending data about the compromised product, this sort of as the IMEI, phone range, mobile nation code, and mobile network code.

CanesSpy also transmits details about the victim’s contacts and accounts every five minutes, in addition to awaiting additional recommendations from the C2 server each moment, a placing that can be reconfigured.

This features sending data files from external storage (e.g., detachable SD card), contacts, recording sound from the microphone, sending knowledge about the implant configuration, and altering the C2 servers.

The point that the messages sent to the C2 server are all in Arabic indicates that the developer at the rear of the procedure is an Arabic speaker.

Additional assessment of the operation shows that the spyware has been energetic since mid-August 2023, with the campaign largely targeting Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Turkey, and Egypt.

The development marks the ongoing abuse of modified versions of messaging products and services like Telegram and WhatsApp to distribute malware to unsuspecting end users.

“WhatsApp mods are mainly distributed by way of 3rd-party Android application stores, which normally lack screening and fail to acquire down malware,” Kalinin mentioned. “Some of these assets, this sort of as 3rd-party application merchants and Telegram channels, delight in sizeable popularity, but that is no warranty of basic safety.”

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