New virus can steal your pix! Expert teaches how to protect yourself
Virus diverts money sent by pix and has already affected banks like Bradesco, Caixa, Nubank and Itaú
pix has been a success since its launch, the service has already been responsible for carrying out more than 26 billion transfers, but a new malware (a type of virus) has raised the alarm for the use of the service.
BrasDex, as the virus is called, was discovered in December and has already caused thousands of reais in damage, it infects Android devices and changes the Pix recipient and the value that would originally be sent. The virus affected several banks, such as Bradesco, Caixa, Nubank and Itaú and has already claimed more than a thousand victims.
According to programmer Bendev Junior, the virus does not explore flaws in the pix system, but vulnerabilities in the user’s own cell phone and some simple measures can help protect themselves.
“The virus, following entering the user’s cell phone, identifies the installed banking applications and remains ‘hidden’ waiting for them to be accessed, so it uses the access it has to the device to change the transaction information, the virus is still capable of identify if the cell phone chip is Brazilian, if not, it stops working”.
“That is, the main security flaw that allows the virus to act does not come from the pix, nor from the application of financial institutions, but from the device itself”. explain
“To avoid this type of problem, it is essential not to open suspicious links received via Whatsapp or SMS, never install applications only downloaded from official stores, not provide full access to suspicious applications and always have an up-to-date antivirus installed on your device, these precautions already help to protect yourself a lot from this type of malware” Explains Bendev Junior.
In total, applications from 10 financial institutions have already been affected, if you fall for this type of scam, contact your bank to ask for a refund, do not make any more transfers through the device and look for a specialized technician to eliminate the virus.
–
About Bendev Junior
Bendev Junior is a specialist in web application programming, entrepreneur in the field of software development and Tech Influencer.