Supposedly active since January 2018, the campaign targets Arabic-speaking users with tens of Android applications, none of which is available in the official Google Play Store. Likely targeting users in Syria and surrounding regions, the malicious apps have names such as “Covid19”, “Telegram Covid_19”, “Android Telegram”, and “Threema Arabic,” among others.
A total of 71 malicious Android applications were identified, all connecting to the same command-and-control (C&C) server. The server’s IP address is linked to the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE), which is known for hosting infrastructure for the government-backed Syrian Electronic Army (SEA).
