{"id":326082,"date":"2021-08-16T15:59:08","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-hackers-can-use-message-mirroring-apps-to-see-all-your-sms-texts-and-bypass-2fa-security\/"},"modified":"2021-08-16T15:59:08","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T12:59:08","slug":"how-hackers-can-use-message-mirroring-apps-to-see-all-your-sms-texts-and-bypass-2fa-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-hackers-can-use-message-mirroring-apps-to-see-all-your-sms-texts-and-bypass-2fa-security\/","title":{"rendered":"#How hackers can use message mirroring apps to see all your SMS texts and bypass 2FA security"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#How hackers can use message mirroring app<\/a>s to see all your SMS texts and bypass 2FA security<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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It’s now well known that usernames and passwords aren’t enough to securely access online services. A recent study highlighted more than 80% of all hacking-related breaches happen due to compromised and weak credentials<\/a>, with three billion username\/password combinations stolen in 2016 alone.<\/p>\n

As such, the implementation of two-factor authentication (2FA) has become a necessity. General<\/a>ly, 2FA aims to provide an additional layer of security to the relatively vulnerable username\/password system. <\/p>\n

It works too. Figures suggest users who enabled 2FA ended up blocking about 99.9% of automated attacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But as with any good cybersecurity solution, attackers can quickly come up with ways to circumvent it. They can bypass 2FA through the one-time codes sent as an SMS to a user’s smartphone. <\/p>\n

Yet many critical online services in Australia still use SMS-based one-time codes, including myGov and the Big 4 banks: ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac.<\/p>\n

So what’s the problem with SMS?<\/b><\/p>\n

Major vendors such as Microsoft<\/a> have urged users to abandon 2FA solutions that leverage SMS and voice calls. This is because SMS is renowned for having infamously poor security, leaving it open to a host of different attacks.<\/p>\n

For example, SIM swapping<\/a> has been demonstrated as a way to circumvent 2FA. SIM swapping involves an attacker convincing a victims’s mobile service provider they themselves are the victim, and then requesting the victim’s phone number be switched to a device of their choice. <\/p>\n

SMS-based one-time codes are also shown to be compromised through readily available tools such as Modlishka<\/a> by leveraging a technique called reverse proxy<\/a>. This facilitates communication between the victim and a service being impersonated. <\/p>\n

So in the case of Modlishka, it will intercept communication between a genuine service and a victim and will track and record the victims’s interactions with the service, including any login credentials they may use).
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In addition to these existing vulnerabilities, our team have found additional vulnerabilities in SMS-based 2FA. One particular attack exploits a feature provided on the Google Play Store to automatically install apps from the web to your android device. <\/p>\n

If an attacker has access to your credentials and manages to log into your Google Play account on a laptop (although you will receive a prompt), they can then install any app they’d like automatically onto your smartphone.<\/p>\n

The attack on Android<\/b><\/p>\n

Our experiments revealed a malicious actor can remotely access a user’s SMS-based 2FA with little effort, through the use of a popular app (name and type withheld for security reasons) designed to synchronize user’s notifications across different devices.<\/p>\n

Specifically, attackers can leverage a compromised email\/password combination connected to a Google account (such as username@gmail.com) to nefariously install a readily-available message mirroring app on a victim’s smartphone via Google Play. <\/p>\n

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\n The YubiKey, first developed in 2008, is an authentication device designed to support one-time password and 2FA protocols without having to rely on SMS-based 2FA. Credit: Shutterstock
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This is a realistic scenario since it’s common for users to use the same credentials across a variety of services. Using a password manager<\/a> is an effective way to make your first line of authentication\u2014your username\/password login\u2014more secure.<\/p>\n

Once the app is installed, the attacker can apply simple social<\/a> engineering techniques to convince the user to enable the permissions required for the app to function properly. <\/p>\n

For example, they may pretend to be calling from a legitimate service provider to persuade the user to enable the permissions. After this they can remotely receive all communications sent to the victim’s phone, including one-time codes used for 2FA.<\/p>\n

Although multiple conditions must be fulfilled for the aforementioned attack to work, it still demonstrates the fragile nature of SMS-based 2FA methods. <\/p>\n

More importantly, this attack doesn’t need high-end technical capabilities. It simply requires insight into how these specific apps work and how to intelligently use them (along with social engineering) to target a victim. <\/p>\n

The threat is even more real when the attacker is a trusted individual (e.g., a family member) with access to the victim’s smartphone. <\/p>\n

What’s the alternative?<\/b><\/p>\n

To remain protected online, you should check whether your initial line of defense is secure. First check your password to see if it’s compromised. There are a number of security programs<\/a> that will let you do this. And make sure you’re using a well-crafted password.<\/p>\n

We also recommend you limit the use of SMS as a 2FA method if you can. You can instead use app-based one-time codes, such as through Google Authenticator. In this case the code is generated within the Google Authenticator app on your device itself, rather than being sent to you.<\/p>\n

However, this approach can also be compromised by hackers using some sophisticated malware<\/a>. A better alternative would be to use dedicated hardware devices such as YubiKey<\/a>. <\/p>\n

These are small USB (or near-field communication-enabled) devices that provide a streamlined way to enable 2FA across different services. <\/p>\n

Such physical devices need to be plugged into or brought into close proximity of a login device as a part of 2FA, therefore mitigating the risks associated with visible one-time codes, such as codes sent by SMS.<\/p>\n

It must be stressed an underlying condition to any 2FA alternative is the user themselves must have some level of active participation and responsibility. <\/p>\n

At the same time, further work must be carried out by service providers, developers and researchers to develop more accessible and secure authentication methods. <\/p>\n

Essentially, these methods need to go beyond 2FA and towards a multi-factor authentication environment, where multiple methods of authentication are simultaneously deployed and combined as needed.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Google updates its Titan Security Key lineup with USB-A and a USB-C versions\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.\"The<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n How hackers can use message mirroring apps to see all your SMS texts and bypass 2FA security (2021, August 16)
\n retrieved 16 August 2021
\n from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news<\/a>\/2021-08-hackers-message-mirroring-apps-sms.html<\/p>\n

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\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n