A malicious android software called Gooligan, intended to attack Android smartphones has breached the accounts of more than a million Google users, security researchers said Wednesday. The report by Check Point Software Technologies said the Gooligan malware targets gadgets running Android 4.0 and 5.0, which accounts for about 74 percent of Android gadgets. Gooligan attacks can steal email addresses and validation data stored on the gadgets to access sensitive data from Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs and different Google services, Check Point said.
"This theft of over a million Google account details is very alarming and represents the next stage of cyber-attacks," said Michael Shaulov, Check Point's head of mobile products. "We are seeing a shift in the strategy of hackers, who are now targeting mobile devices in order to obtain the sensitive information that is stored on them."
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Check Point said researchers found Gooligan's code in an application a year ago and an another variation showed up in August 2016, affecting around 13,000 gadgets each day. Around 57 percent of those gadgets are located in Asia and around nine percent are in Europe. "The infection begins when a user downloads and installs a Gooligan-infected app on a vulnerable Android device, or by clicking on malicious links in phishing attack messages," the company said in a statement.
Attackers, by means of Gooligan, can gain control over the gadget and produce income by deceitfully installing applications from Google Play and rating them for the benefit on behalf of the victim. Check Point said it reported the subtle elements of the Gooligan malware to Google, and that the tech mammoth demonstrated it would find a way to protect users.
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