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HOOK Android banking trojan adds ransomware overlay and 107 commands

Malware Activity
First reported
Last updated
Happening score
H score 21
1 unique sources, 1 articles

Summary

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The HOOK Android banking trojan now adds a full-screen ransomware overlay, increasing extortion risk and expanding its Android fraud capability. The new variant supports 107 remote commands, including overlays for fake NFC, unlock PIN/pattern collection, and credit card harvesting. It is being spread at scale through phishing websites and bogus GitHub repositories that host malicious APK files.

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Timeline

  1. 26.08.2025 12:01 1 articles · 9mo ago

    HOOK Android banking trojan adds ransomware overlays and 107 commands

    Initial Disclosure

    Zimperium identified a new HOOK Android banking trojan variant that can deploy a full-screen ransomware overlay to coerce victims into paying, with the overlay triggered by the C2 command "ransome" and removable with "delete_ransome". The sample is assessed as an offshoot of ERMAC, supports 107 remote commands with 38 newly added ones, and is distributed through phishing websites and bogus GitHub repositories hosting malicious APK files.

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