Google warns of new Android and iOS malware: Hermit

Hermit is the name of a new malware circulating among Android and iOS devices. The new spyware ensures that a lot of data can be collected without you realizing it.

hermit spyware

New spyware is circulating among devices with Android and iOS, warn Google and the security company Lookout. It appears to be spread via a text message asking to install an app. In some cases, providers would even cooperate, disable the connection after which an SMS is sent to restore the so-called data connection with an app. This would have happened in Syria; according to Google, state hackers would be active in this.

However, the spyware also circulates without the help of the providers. For example, the SMS states that users must install an app to regain control over your WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook account. Once the app was installed, the spyware had every opportunity to collect everything.

The collection ranged from messages, telephone conversations and photos to login data with passwords. Since it is a modular variant, it can adapt and thus also bypass security patches. Google says that the spyware was developed by a commercial agency from Italy. The spyware is in any case distributed in Italy, Kazakhstan and Syria, but it is possible that it is also circulating in more countries.