The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has warned Android, iPhone and other IT platform users about the risks associated with taking part in the Invisible Challenge on short-form video hosting service, TokTok, saying that participation exposes devices to information-stealing malware.
In its advisory circulated to journalists on Tuesday, the NCC-CSIRT indicated that threat actors had taken advantage of a viral TikTok challenge, known as the Invisible Challenge, to spread an information-stealing malware known as the WASP or W4SP stealer.
According to the advisory, the WASP stealer, which is high in probability with critical damage potential, is a persistent malware hosted on discord that its developer claims is undetectable.
The team stated: “The Invisible Challenge involves wrapping a somewhat transparent body contouring filter around a presumed naked individual. Attackers are uploading videos to TikTok with a link to software that they claim can reverse the filter’s effects.
“Those who click on the link and attempt to download the software, known as “unfilter,” are infected with the WASP stealer. Suspended accounts had amassed over a million views after initially posting the videos with a link. Following the link leads to the “Space Unfilter” Discord server, which had 32,000 members at its peak, but has since been removed by its creators.
“Successful installation will allow the malware to harvest keystrokes, screenshots, network activity, and other information from devices where it is installed. It may also covertly monitor user behaviour and harvest Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including names and passwords, keystrokes from emails, chat programs, websites visited, and financial activity. This malware may be capable of covertly collecting screenshots, video recordings, or the ability to activate any connected camera or microphone”, it added.
The NCC-CSIRT listed some ways to forestall such an attack as including avoiding clicking on suspicious links, using anti-malware software on your devices, checking app tray and removing any apps that you do not remember installing or that are dormant and embracing healthy password hygiene practices such as using a password manager.
The CSIRT, which is collaborating with Nigerian Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT), established by the Federal Government to reduce the volume of future computer risk incidents, is the telecom sector’s cyber security incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector and as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large
