Gardaí take down virus 'spreading aggressively' on smartphones in Ireland

The Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau have played a part in disrupting a mobile phone malware spreading here during an international law enforcement operation.

FluBot is an Android malware that has been spreading aggressively through text messages. It steals passwords, online banking details and other sensitive information from infected smartphones across the world.

Gardaí said: "This takedown follows a complex criminal investigation coordinated by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre EC3 and involved law enforcement authorities in Australia, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States."

Gardaí further explained: "FluBot malware is disguised as an application, so it can be difficult to spot. There are two ways to tell whether an app may be malware:

- If you tap an app, and it doesn’t open

- If you try to uninstall an app, and are instead shown an error message

"If you think an app may be malware, reset the phone to factory settings."

Detective Superintendent Pat Ryan, Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau said: "This operation has successfully disrupted and rendered ineffective the infrastructure behind the malware. The Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau continue work collaboratively with international law enforcement agencies to target the criminal networks responsible for all forms of cybercrime. The investigation is ongoing to identify the individuals behind this global malware campaign."