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Screen Capture
Adversaries may use screen captures to collect information about applications running in the foreground, capture user data, credentials, or other sensitive information. Applications running in the background can capture screenshots or videos of another application running in the foreground by using the Android MediaProjectionManager
(generally requires the device user to grant consent).[1][2] Background applications can also use Android accessibility services to capture screen contents being displayed by a foreground application.[3] An adversary with root access or Android Debug Bridge (adb) access could call the Android screencap
or screenrecord
commands.[4][5]
Procedure Examples
Name | Description |
---|---|
Anubis | |
DEFENSOR ID |
DEFENSOR ID can abuse the accessibility service to read any text displayed on the screen.[7] |
EventBot |
EventBot can abuse Android’s accessibility service to capture data from installed applications.[8] |
Exodus |
Exodus Two can take screenshots of any application in the foreground.[9] |
FlexiSpy | |
Ginp |
Ginp can capture device screenshots and stream them back to the C2.[11] |
GolfSpy | |
Mandrake | |
Monokle |
Monokle can record the screen as the user unlocks the device and can take screenshots of any application in the foreground. Monokle can also abuse accessibility features to read the screen to capture data from a large number of popular applications.[3] |
SpyDealer |
SpyDealer abuses Accessibility features to steal messages from popular apps such as WeChat, Skype, Viber, and QQ.[14] |
TrickMo |
TrickMo can use the |
WolfRAT |
WolfRAT can record the screen and take screenshots to capture messages from Line, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.[16] |
Mitigations
Mitigation | Description |
---|---|
Application Developer Guidance |
Application developers can apply |
Application Vetting |
Applications can be vetted for their use of the Android MediaProjectionManager class, with extra scrutiny applied to any application that uses the class. |
Enterprise Policy |
Enterprise policies should block access to the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) by preventing users from enabling USB debugging on Android devices unless specifically needed (e.g., if the device is used for application development). An EMM/MDM can use the Android |
User Guidance |
Users should be advised not to grant consent for screen captures to occur unless expected. Users should avoid enabling USB debugging (Android Debug Bridge) unless explicitly required. |
Detection
The user can view a list of apps with accessibility service privileges in the device settings.
References
- Dario Durando. (2019, July 3). BianLian: A New Wave Emerges. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- Android Developers. (n.d.). Android MediaProjectionManager. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- Bauer A., Kumar A., Hebeisen C., et al. (2019, July). Monokle: The Mobile Surveillance Tooling of the Special Technology Center. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- Android Developers. (n.d.). Android Debug Bridge (adb). Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- Zhang, V. (2015, July 21). Hacking Team RCSAndroid Spying Tool Listens to Calls; Roots Devices to Get In. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- M. Feller. (2020, February 5). Infostealer, Keylogger, and Ransomware in One: Anubis Targets More than 250 Android Applications. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- L. Stefanko. (2020, May 22). Insidious Android malware gives up all malicious features but one to gain stealth. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- D. Frank, L. Rochberger, Y. Rimmer, A. Dahan. (2020, April 30). EventBot: A New Mobile Banking Trojan is Born. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- Security Without Borders. (2019, March 29). Exodus: New Android Spyware Made in Italy. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- FlexiSpy. (n.d.). FlexiSpy Monitoring Features. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ThreatFabric. (2019, November). Ginp - A malware patchwork borrowing from Anubis. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- E. Xu, G. Guo. (2019, June 28). Mobile Cyberespionage Campaign ‘Bouncing Golf’ Affects Middle East. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
- R. Gevers, M. Tivadar, R. Bleotu, A. M. Barbatei, et al.. (2020, May 14). Uprooting Mandrake: The Story of an Advanced Android Spyware Framework That Went Undetected for 4 Years. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
- Wenjun Hu, Cong Zheng and Zhi Xu. (2017, July 6). SpyDealer: Android Trojan Spying on More Than 40 Apps. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- P. Asinovsky. (2020, March 24). TrickBot Pushing a 2FA Bypass App to Bank Customers in Germany. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- W. Mercer, P. Rascagneres, V. Ventura. (2020, May 19). The wolf is back... . Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- Nightwatch Cybersecurity. (2016, April 13). Research: Securing Android Applications from Screen Capture (FLAG_SECURE). Retrieved November 5, 2019.