The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday alerted Nigerian telecom consumers of the existence of a new, high-risk and extremely-damaging malware system called Flubot.

A malware is a generic word used to describe a virus or software, designed specially to “disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.”

The Commission said information received from the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT), indicated that Flubot “targets Androids with fake security updates and App installations”.

The ngCERT affirmed that Flubot “impersonates Android mobile banking applications to draw fake web view on targeted applications,” the commission said in a statement signed by its Director of Public, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde.

It warned that the goal of Flubot transcends stealing personal data, saying it “essentially targets stealing of credit card details or online banking credentials.”

Flubot is circulated through Short Message Service (SMS) and can snoop “on incoming notifications, initiate calls, read or write SMSes, and transmit the victim’s contact list to its control centre,” the Commission said.

The NCC further said malware attacks Android devices by pretending to be “FedEx, DHL, Correos, and Chrome applications” and compels unsuspecting users to alter the accessibility configurations on their devices in order to maintain continuous presence on devices.

While the Commission gave details of ways the attacks can be launched on devices, it advised Nigerians to ignore suspicious messages on their phones and computers.

The Commission said: “do not click on the link if you receive a suspicious text message, and do not install any app or security update the page asks you to install.

“Use updated antivirus software that detects and prevents malware infections.

“Apply critical patches to the system and application”