The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has issued a fresh warning about a newly discovered malicious software that steals banking data from Android phones.

A statement dated February 25, 2022, signed by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr.  Ikechukwu Adinde, said the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) has discovered that the newly-hatched malicious software steals users’ banking app login credentials on Android devices.

The warning underscores how incessant malware targeting financial institutions have become, as it’s not quite long the NCC issued a warning about TangleBot, another malware that also operates on Android devices via SMS.

According to a security advisory from the NCC CSIRT, the malicious software called “Xenomorph”, found to target 56 financial institutions from Europe, has high impact and high vulnerability rate. The main intent of this malware is to steal credentials, combined with the use of SMS and Notification interception to log-in and use potential 2-factor authentication tokens.

The NCC thus issued the guidelines below on how Android users can avoid the malware baits.

Xenomorph is propagated by an application that was slipped into Google Play store and masquerading as a legitimate application called “Fast Cleaner” ostensibly meant to clear junk, increase device speed and optimize battery. In reality, this app is only a means by which the Xenomorph Trojan could be propagated easily and efficiently.

To avoid early detection or being denied access to the PlayStore, “Fast Cleaner” was disseminated before the malware was placed on the remote server, making it hard for Google to determine that such an app is being used for malicious actions.

Once up and running on a victim’s device, Xenomorph can harvest device information and Short Messaging Service (SMS), intercept notifications and new SMS messages, perform overlay attacks, and prevent users from uninstalling it. The threat also asks for Accessibility Services privileges, which allow it to grant itself further permissions.

The CSIRT said the malware also steals victims’ banking credentials by overlaying fake login pages on top of legitimate ones. Considering that it can also intercept messages and notifications, it allows its operators to bypass SMS-based two-factor authentication and log into the victims’ accounts without alerting them.

“Xenomorph has been found to target 56 internet banking apps, 28 from Spain, 12 from Italy, 9 from Belgium, and 7 from Portugal, as well as Cryptocurrency wallets and general-purpose applications like emailing services. The Fast Cleaner app has now been removed from the Play Store but not before it garnered 50,000+ downloads,” the CSIRT security advisory asserted.

The Nigerian Communications Commission hereby wishes to advise telecom consumers to be on alert in order not to fall victim to this manipulation. Accordingly, the NCC urges telecom consumers and other Internet users, particularly those using Android-powered devices to use trusted Antivirus solutions and update them regularly to their latest definitions.

The Commission also implore consumers and other stakeholders to always update banking applications to their most recent versions.

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Poverty has also on its part really posed a great danger to Nigeria’s tech value. The individuals who have the zeal and ability to invest in their expertise might end up being frustrated, due to lack of capital.

This is why the country’s GDP per capita has to be fixed or elevated if she actually wants her tech sector to excel headlong. There are absolutely no two ways about it.

Nigerians do not trust made-in-Nigeria goods. The mentality of seeing foreign products as superior while branding domestically-made ones inferior, must be tackled. Aside from sensitization, apt policies can properly assist in eradicating the social menace, which could best be described as a cankerworm that has eaten deep into our collective bone marrow.

The governments must not necessarily invest in technology for their respective tech values to grow. In most countries where technology is seriously thriving, the individuals domiciled therein remain the key players, not the government. But such a phenomenon can never be witnessed if the enabling environment is conspicuously missing.

To fix this anomaly, we must be ready and determined to address the quagmire in the political system. The country’s political instability is so intense, and continues to skyrocket by the day, that one cannot possibly say what the nearest future entails for our indigenous tech patent.

The policies are so weak that they can’t even initiate a project, let alone accomplish it. To get things rightly done, we need to acknowledge that a country’s growth in any sector depends majorly, if not solely, on her extant policies.

To be on the same page with me, take a look at any nation that has grown in a certain sector, and then take time to painstakingly x-ray the policies guiding the area in question. Just a research and adequate analysis would make you understand where exactly I’m coming from.

Growth is not rocket science; it takes some processes. For such processes or procedures to occur, there must be existing principles. The moment the rules (principles) are thwarted, it marks the beginning of the end of the procedures. There are no two ways about it.

Lest I forget, we need to equally take into cognizance that the reason most of the needed policies cannot exist in countries like Nigeria is that our corrupt political leaders have realized that technology exposes corruption. Read my lips.

They are apparently of the view that if tech is deployed in any area, it would certainly expose their corrupt practices. Take for instance, a situation where technology is fully implemented in the country’s electoral system as well as using forensic audit patterns in the finance sector.

The above factors are the reason we ought to clamour for overhaul. The country is in damn need of total overhaul of the system. To achieve this, we need to realize the full benefits of investing in technology.

We are not here to reiterate the numerous merits of technology but to point out the goals and lapses in the said sector, in a bid to do the needful. If we spend time to highlight the outpouring merits, three editions of this column might not be sufficient.

Artificial intelligence is deeply gaining momentum on a daily basis, signifying it has come to stay. Ease of access to information cannot be overestimated. Ease of mobility is another overwhelming experience. Better communication means and improved banking have, beyond reasonable doubts, made the world seem not unlike a minute village.

Learning has been digitalized, thereby silencing any form of impediment, owing to the presence of technology. Cost efficiency and apt time management are being assured in all tech-driven activities. These are verifiable facts.

Countless innovations are springing up by the day in every facet of human endeavour. The ‘disabled’ are now abled, because of tech-driven tools, yet we seemingly await more prophets to tell us that technology has come to take us to the promised-land.

Understanding that the presence of an adequate tech hub drastically changes the economic outlook of any country involved, is enough reason to place its content ahead of others.

In view of this, it’s high time the Nigerian society looks inwards with a view to strengthening her tech worth for development’s sake. 

The year 2021, which was the hardest hit by covid, was a year of growth for the tech industry, with almost every player in the sector making groundbreaking figures in revenue.

Though the growth was scuttled by global chip shortage which undermined the production capacities of many companies, from vehicles to smartphone makers. However, like others, the smartphone market defied the chip challenge to cross a revenue threshold in 2021.

The global smartphone market revenue crossed $448 billion in 2021, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor Service. It grew 7% YoY and 20% QoQ even as component shortages and COVID-19 restrictions continued to disrupt supply chains around the world.

Smartphone average selling price (ASP) grew 12% YoY to reach $322, mainly due to a higher share of 5G smartphones, which have a significantly higher ASP than the 4G models, as well as Apple’s successful launch of its iPhone 13 devices. Besides, more 5G-enabled models were released in 2021 as OEMs such as Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO and realme focused on fulfilling a greater demand for affordable 5G smartphones in emerging markets such as India, Southeast Asia, LATAM and Eastern Europe. As a result, 5G-enabled smartphones contributed more than 40% of the global smartphone shipments in 2021, compared to 18% in 2020.

There has also been a global increase in demand for mid-range and premium smartphones due to the pandemic-linked education, work and entertainment from home convincing some consumers to upgrade their devices for a better overall experience. Lastly, the global shortage of smartphone components has also led major OEMs to increase the retail prices of some of their entry and mid-tier smartphones.

Smartphone Market Revenue by Top 5 Brands, 2017-2021 (in $ billions)

Apple’s iPhone revenue increased 35% YoY to $196 billion in 2021. It captured 44% of total global smartphone revenue in 2021. The high demand for 5G-enabled iPhone 12 and 13 series helped Apple register 14% growth in its overall ASP, which reached $825 in 2021. The brand also managed to increase its share in key emerging markets such as India, Thailand, Vietnam and Brazil.

Samsung’s smartphone revenue increased 11% YoY to reach $72 billion in 2021, compared to $64 billion in 2020. Its ASP grew 5% to $263 in 2021. Samsung managed to increase its global market share in the mid and premium segments with the launch of the Galaxy S flagship series and increase in the share of 5G phones. 2021 also witnessed the launch of two foldable smartphones — Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and Z Flip3, which also nudged the overall revenue higher. Samsung shipped three times more foldable devices in 2021 than in 2020.

Xiaomi’s revenue increased 49% YoY to reach $36 billion in 2021, compared to $24 billion in 2020, mainly due to the increase in shipments and market share for its mid and premium segment smartphones such as the Mi 11x series. In India, the brand’s biggest market, the smartphones priced at $250 and above grew 39% YoY to account for more than 14% of Xiaomi’s India market, compared to 8% in 2020.

OPPO* saw a revenue increase of 47% YoY to $37 billion. Its ASP grew 15% YoY to reach $259 in 2021. The brand saw an increase in shipments in the $400-$599 and $600-$799 price bands, mainly owing to strong demand for the Reno 6 series, Find X3 and OnePlus 9 series. 5G-enabled smartphones contributed more than 50% of the brand’s yearly shipments in 2021 against 28% in 2020. OPPO* also managed to expand its presence in mature markets such as China, Japan and parts of Europe (including Nordic countries), which drove the higher revenue and ASP. OnePlus revenue grew 33% YoY in 2021 driven by the OnePlus Nord series and OnePlus 9.

vivo’s revenue increased 43% YoY to $34 billion. Its ASP grew 19% YoY to reach $259 in 2021. The brand ranked as the fifth-largest smartphone vendor in 2021 both in terms of revenue and shipments. vivo’s revenue performance was driven by the well-received flagship X60 and S series, exceptional performance in China and a wide product portfolio spread across all price bands.