{"id":81566,"date":"2017-11-14T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=81566"},"modified":"2025-08-05T09:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:37:10","slug":"lokibot-android-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/mobile-security\/lokibot-android-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning: Lokibot Is Looking to Access Your Android"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time of year is always busy for me. Between pre-holiday online shopping, and the push to connect with friends before the season gets underway, it\u2019s especially a busy time of year for my online activity.<\/p>\n

In an age of social technology, we use our apps to help get through our active holiday calendar. We use our messaging apps to connect with friends on the go, and our banking apps to balance accounts, as well as send and receive money from loved ones. We need our apps to make the holidays happen. Which, unfortunately, makes the new LokiBot malware the perfect Trojan horse to infiltrate your mobile device.<\/p>\n

What is Lokibot?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lokibot is a new Android banking trojan<\/a> that\u2019s targeting mobile banking applications and communication apps like WhatsApp, Skype, and Outlook. Much like its banking Trojan counterparts, Lokibot disguises itself as the login screen of your banking app, hoping to trick you into giving it administrative access. Once it has access<\/a>, it can use your browser and SMS texts against you to share your personal information with cybercriminals and spread spam to all of your contacts. According to researchers<\/a>, this Trojan has targeted at least 119 apps already.<\/p>\n

How Does Lokibot work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lokibot is like an unwanted guest, it just won\u2019t leave. When users realize they\u2019ve been duped and try to remove the trojan\u2019s administrative privileges, it automatically locks the device and turns into ransomware. Fortunately, the Lokibot ransomware feature is faulty and has only been successful at renaming files instead of encrypting them. Unfortunately, Lokibot still has the ability to lock you out of your phone.<\/p>\n

How do I protect myself?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The good news is: if your device has been infected, you can give Lokibot the boot by putting your phone into Safe Mode and removing the malicious application along with its admin user privileges. When it comes to cybersecurity, everybody knows that the best defense is a good offense. You can keep your devices safe by following these tips:<\/p>\n

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