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TECHNIQUES
Enterprise
Reconnaissance
Active Scanning
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Phishing for Information
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Scheduled Task/Job
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Execution Guardrails
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Hide Artifacts
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Impair Defenses
Indicator Removal on Host
Masquerading
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Network Boundary Bridging
Obfuscated Files or Information
Pre-OS Boot
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Signed Binary Proxy Execution
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Subvert Trust Controls
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Use Alternate Authentication Material
Valid Accounts
Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion
Weaken Encryption
Credential Access
Brute Force
Credentials from Password Stores
Forge Web Credentials
Input Capture
Man-in-the-Middle
Modify Authentication Process
OS Credential Dumping
Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets
Unsecured Credentials
Discovery
Account Discovery
Permission Groups Discovery
Software Discovery
Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion
Lateral Movement
Remote Service Session Hijacking
Remote Services
Use Alternate Authentication Material
Collection
Archive Collected Data
Data from Configuration Repository
Data from Information Repositories
Data Staged
Email Collection
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Man-in-the-Middle
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Impact
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Mobile
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  1. Home
  2. Techniques
  3. Mobile
  4. Capture Audio

Capture Audio

Adversaries may capture audio to collect information on a user of a mobile device using standard operating system APIs. Adversaries may target audio information such as user conversations, surroundings, phone calls, or other sensitive information.

Android and iOS, by default, requires that an application request access to microphone devices from the user. In Android, applications must hold the android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO permission to access the microphone and the android.permission.CAPTURE_AUDIO_OUTPUT permission to access audio output such as speakers. Android does not allow third-party applications to hold android.permission.CAPTURE_AUDIO_OUTPUT, so audio output can only be obtained by privileged applications (distributed by Google or the device vendor) or after a successful privilege escalation attack. In iOS, applications must include the NSMicrophoneUsageDescription key in their Info.plist file.

ID: T1429
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
Tactic Type: Post-Adversary Device Access
Tactic: Collection
Platforms: Android, iOS
MTC ID: APP-19
Version: 2.0
Created: 25 October 2017
Last Modified: 20 September 2019

Procedure Examples

Name Description
AndroRAT

AndroRAT gathers audio from the microphone.[1]
Anubis

Anubis can record phone calls and audio, and can make phone calls.[2]
Corona Updates

Corona Updates can record MP4 files and monitor calls.[3]
Dendroid

Dendroid can record audio and outgoing calls.[4]
Desert Scorpion

Desert Scorpion can record audio from phone calls and the device microphone.[5]
DroidJack

DroidJack is capable of recording device phone calls.[6]
eSurv

eSurv can record audio.[7]
Exodus

Exodus Two can record audio from the compromised device's microphone and can record call audio in 3GP format.[8]

FinFisher

FinFisher uses the device microphone to record phone conversations.[9]
FlexiSpy

FlexiSpy can record both incoming and outgoing phone calls, as well as microphone audio.[10]
GolfSpy

GolfSpy can record audio and phone calls.[11]
Monokle

Monokle can record audio from the device's microphone and can record phone calls, specifying the output audio quality.[12]
Pallas

Pallas captures audio from the device microphone.[9]
Pegasus for Android

Pegasus for Android has the ability to record device audio.[13]
Pegasus for iOS

Pegasus for iOS has the ability to record audio.[14]
RCSAndroid

RCSAndroid can record audio using the device microphone.[15]
RedDrop

RedDrop captures live recordings of the device's surroundings.[16]
Skygofree

Skygofree can record audio via the microphone when an infected device is in a specified location.[17]
SpyDealer

SpyDealer can record phone calls and surrounding audio.[18]
SpyNote RAT

SpyNote RAT can activate the victim's microphone.[19]
Stealth Mango

Stealth Mango can record audio using the device microphone.[20]
Tangelo

Tangelo contains functionality to record calls as well as the victim device's environment.[20]
ViceLeaker

ViceLeaker can record audio from the device’s microphone and can record phone calls together with the caller ID.[21][22]
ViperRAT

ViperRAT can collect and record audio content.[23]
WolfRAT

WolfRAT can record call audio.[24]
XLoader for Android

XLoader for Android covertly records phone calls.[25]

Mitigations

Mitigation Description
Application Vetting

Applications using the android permission android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO or iOS applications using RequestRecordPermission could be more closely scrutinized and monitored. If android.permission.CAPTURE_AUDIO_OUTPUT is found in a third-party application, it should be heavily scrutinized.
Use Recent OS Version

Android 9 and above restricts access to microphone, camera, and other sensors from background applications.[26]

Detection

On both Android (6.0 and up) and iOS, the user can view which applications have permission to use the microphone through the device settings screen, and the user can choose to revoke the permissions.

References

  1. Lookout. (2016, May 25). 5 active mobile threats spoofing enterprise apps. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  2. M. Feller. (2020, February 5). Infostealer, Keylogger, and Ransomware in One: Anubis Targets More than 250 Android Applications. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. T. Bao, J. Lu. (2020, April 14). Coronavirus Update App Leads to Project Spy Android and iOS Spyware. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  4. Marc Rogers. (2014, March 6). Dendroid malware can take over your camera, record audio, and sneak into Google Play. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  5. A. Blaich, M. Flossman. (2018, April 16). Lookout finds new surveillanceware in Google Play with ties to known threat actor targeting the Middle East. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  6. Viral Gandhi. (2017, January 12). Super Mario Run Malware #2 – DroidJack RAT. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  7. A. Bauer. (2019, April 8). Lookout discovers phishing sites distributing new iOS and Android surveillanceware. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  8. Security Without Borders. (2019, March 29). Exodus: New Android Spyware Made in Italy. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  9. Blaich, A., et al. (2018, January 18). Dark Caracal: Cyber-espionage at a Global Scale. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  10. Actis B. (2017, April 22). FlexSpy Application Analysis. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  11. E. Xu, G. Guo. (2019, June 28). Mobile Cyberespionage Campaign ‘Bouncing Golf’ Affects Middle East. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  12. Bauer A., Kumar A., Hebeisen C., et al. (2019, July). Monokle: The Mobile Surveillance Tooling of the Special Technology Center. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  13. Mike Murray. (2017, April 3). Pegasus for Android: the other side of the story emerges. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  1. Lookout. (2016). Technical Analysis of Pegasus Spyware. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  2. Veo Zhang. (2015, July 21). Hacking Team RCSAndroid Spying Tool Listens to Calls; Roots Devices to Get In. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  3. Nell Campbell. (2018, February 27). RedDrop: the blackmailing mobile malware family lurking in app stores. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  4. Nikita Buchka and Alexey Firsh. (2018, January 16). Skygofree: Following in the footsteps of HackingTeam. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  5. Wenjun Hu, Cong Zheng and Zhi Xu. (2017, July 6). SpyDealer: Android Trojan Spying on More Than 40 Apps. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  6. Shivang Desai. (2017, January 23). SpyNote RAT posing as Netflix app. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  7. Lookout. (n.d.). Stealth Mango & Tangelo. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  8. GReAT. (2019, June 26). ViceLeaker Operation: mobile espionage targeting Middle East. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  9. L. Arsene, C. Ochinca. (2018, August 20). Triout – Spyware Framework for Android with Extensive Surveillance Capabilities. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  10. M. Flossman. (2017, February 16). ViperRAT: The mobile APT targeting the Israeli Defense Force that should be on your radar. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  11. W. Mercer, P. Rascagneres, V. Ventura. (2020, May 19). The wolf is back... . Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  12. Lorin Wu. (2018, April 19). XLoader Android Spyware and Banking Trojan Distributed via DNS Spoofing. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  13. Android Developers. (, January). Android 9+ Privacy Changes . Retrieved August 27, 2019.