Spyware variants named Moonshine and Badbazaar detected.
Warnings have been issued by the NCSC about spyware “which could facilitate surveillance and harassment.”
Along with other global agencies, the advisories on the spyware - dubbed MOONSHINE and BADBAZAAR – hide malicious functions inside otherwise legitimate apps. Once installed, the apps have been observed variously accessing functions including microphones, cameras, messages, photos, and location data, including real-time tracking, without the user being aware.
Paul Chichester, NCSC director of operations, said: “With our international and industry partners, we are committed to helping equip individuals at risk of online surveillance with the information they need to counter spyware threats."
"We are seeing a rise in digital threats designed to silence, monitor, and intimidate communities across borders, and the use of these two forms of spyware is clearly unacceptable."
Written by
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with 25 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 17 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Forum, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and the National Cyber Security Show, and served as editor of SC Media UK, Infosecurity Magazine and IT Security Guru. He was also an analyst with 451 Research and a product marketing lead at Tenable.
