Here’s how to protect yourself from GoldPickaxe, the first Trojan on iPhone

Last year, a Trojan known as GoldDigger, capable of stealing users’ biometric data and thus compromising bank accounts. Now, this threat has “evolved” into the trojan known as GoldPickaxecapable of attacking both iOS and Android systems.

Going into details, GoldPickaxe was discovered by the security company Group-IB. This malware, when it attacks an iPhone, can obtain biometric information of a user from photos, SMS, intercept web activity and more. Among other things, in some cases, victims are contacted by attackers who, posing as bank representatives, ask for information such as images of identity cards.

For now, the GoldPickaxe Trojan has been targeting users in Vietnam and Thailand (mimicking more than 50 banking apps). However, Group-IB highlighted that the GoldPickaxe iOS/Android Trojan and the previous GoldDigger and GoldKefu Trojans “I am in the active phase of evolution”, so it’s important to stay vigilant. As for distribution, that of GoldPickaxe occurs through malicious iOS mobile device management (MDM) profiles.

To protect yourself, you need to Don’t install suspicious iPhone apps via apple‘s TestFlight. Furthermore, it is advisable not to install a MDM profile on your device unless you completely trust the source and can verify that it is legitimate. Obviously, it is always useful not to share personal/sensitive information via telephone or video calls.