Cut Off the 'Zombie Phone' Command Network... LGU+ on High Alert for Chuseok Voice Phishing
IT DAILY ·
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LG Uplus said it will strengthen its response to voice phishing and smishing ahead of the Chuseok holiday.
It has broadened its response range beyond filtering smishing texts to blocking the control servers of smartphones with malicious apps installed.
It will operate a 24-hour special response system with its AI-based customer damage prevention analysis system, Secure.AI+, and share information with the police if a malicious app infection is confirmed.
LG Uplus said on the 13th that it will strengthen customer protection measures against voice phishing and smishing ahead of the Chuseok holiday. According to IT Daily, LG Uplus has expanded its response beyond smishing text filtering to blocking control servers that operate smartphones with malicious apps installed.
LG Uplus said the measure is aimed at detecting links between outside criminal organizations and smartphones and preventing additional damage after a malicious app is installed. Accordingly, it will also step up tracking and blocking activities targeting servers that remotely control malicious apps.
LG Uplus said it will operate a 24-hour special response system centered on its AI-based customer damage prevention analysis system, Secure.AI+. The system will run through the end of this month, and a dedicated monitoring setup will be activated at its Magok office in Seoul.
LG Uplus also plans to share related information with the police through a hotline it has established with the police if a malicious app infection is confirmed. It will respond immediately if the police request blocking.
Ahead of and after the holiday, text messages and calls impersonating delivery companies and citing package deliveries or address verification are expected to surge. Recently, methods have also been increasing in which victims are lured to unverified investment sites or unofficial trading apps and then asked to install malicious apps.
Once a malicious app is installed, criminal organizations can use an external control server to turn a victim's smartphone into a so-called 'zombie phone.' The malicious app can intercept or block incoming calls, and it can also manipulate the caller ID of calls made by criminal organizations to make them appear as if they were made by police at 112 or the prosecution at 1301. Even if a victim calls the police or the prosecution directly, the malicious app can connect the call to the criminal organization.
For that reason, there are concerns that blocking only at the text-messaging stage is not enough to prevent damage. LG Uplus said it is applying a multilayered approach that tracks the control servers connected to infected devices, along with detecting malicious texts.
LG Uplus said it is integrating and analyzing internal and external data using Secure.AI+. The company said it is the only telecom carrier in South Korea tracking the malicious app control servers of voice phishing rings.
If LG Uplus finds signs in its own analysis that a customer's device is communicating with a malicious app control server, it sends a KakaoTalk AlimTalk notification. The purpose of the alert is to warn of the risk. The notification is meant not only to block attacks in advance but also to guide customers who may have installed a malicious app on follow-up measures.
Customers who receive a risk AlimTalk can visit the nearest police station or an LG Uplus store. Counseling and assistance will be provided during the visit. However, they should avoid calling the relevant agencies from a device suspected of infection.
That is because attackers may be able to intercept the call. If a report needs to be made, another mobile phone should be used, and callers can contact the National Police Agency's Integrated Reporting and Response Center for Telecommunications Financial Fraud at 1394.
LG Uplus plans to improve blocking accuracy by continuously training its AI on the types of spam and smishing texts that are common during the Chuseok period. Users should not click URLs in messages from unknown sources, and if they are asked to install an app after a message impersonating a customer service center or public institution, they should end the call immediately. They should also inspect their devices with a smartphone antivirus app.
Hong Kwan-hee, head of LG Uplus's Information Security Center and CISO, said the company will operate a 24-hour monitoring system before and after the Chuseok holiday to prevent customer damage. Hong also advised customers who receive a malicious app risk AlimTalk to visit the nearest police station or LG Uplus store immediately and receive the necessary measures.
Source: IT DAILY · Lee Jae-young
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=241563
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Source: IT DAILY
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