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Video Capture

An adversary can leverage a device’s cameras to gather information by capturing video recordings. Images may also be captured, potentially in specified intervals, in lieu of video files.

Malware or scripts may interact with the device cameras through an available API provided by the operating system. Video or image files may be written to disk and exfiltrated later. This technique differs from Screen Capture due to use of the device’s cameras for video recording rather than capturing the victim’s screen.

In Android, an application must hold the android.permission.CAMERA permission to access the cameras. In iOS, applications must include the NSCameraUsageDescription key in the Info.plist file. In both cases, the user must grant permission to the requesting application to use the camera. If the device has been rooted or jailbroken, an adversary may be able to access the camera without knowledge of the user.

ID: T1512
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
Tactic Type: Post-Adversary Device Access
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Tactic: Collection
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Platforms: Android, iOS
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MTC ID: APP-19
Version: 2.1
Created: 09 August 2019
Last Modified: 20 March 2023
Version Permalink

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
S1061 AbstractEmu

AbstractEmu can grant itself camera permissions.[1]
S0292 AndroRAT

AndroRAT can take photos and videos using the device cameras.[2]

S1079 BOULDSPY

BOULDSPY can take photos using the device cameras.[3]
S0655 BusyGasper

BusyGasper can record from the device’s camera.[4]
S0426 Concipit1248

Concipit1248 requests permissions to use the device camera.[5]
S0425 Corona Updates

Corona Updates can take pictures using the camera and can record MP4 files.[5]
S0301 Dendroid

Dendroid can take photos and record videos.[6]
S0505 Desert Scorpion

Desert Scorpion can record videos.[7]
S0320 DroidJack

DroidJack can capture video using device cameras.[8]
S1092 Escobar

Escobar can take photos using the device cameras.[9]
S0405 Exodus

Exodus Two can take pictures with the device cameras.[10]

S1080 Fakecalls

Fakecalls can request camera permissions.[11]
S0408 FlexiSpy

FlexiSpy can record video.[12]
S0535 Golden Cup

Golden Cup can take pictures with the camera.[13]
S0551 GoldenEagle

GoldenEagle has taken photos with the device camera.[14]
S0421 GolfSpy

GolfSpy can record video.[15]
S0544 HenBox

HenBox can access the device’s camera.[16]
S1128 HilalRAT

HilalRAT can activate a device’s camera.[17]
S1077 Hornbill

Hornbill can access a device’s camera and take photos.[18]
S0407 Monokle

Monokle can take photos and videos.[19]
S0399 Pallas

Pallas can take pictures with both the front and rear-facing cameras.[20]
S0316 Pegasus for Android

Pegasus for Android has the ability to take pictures using the device camera.[21]
S1126 Phenakite

Phenakite can capture pictures and videos.[22]
S0295 RCSAndroid

RCSAndroid can capture photos using the front and back cameras.[23]
S0549 SilkBean

SilkBean can access the camera on the device.[14]
S0327 Skygofree

Skygofree can record video or capture photos when an infected device is in a specified location.[24]
S0324 SpyDealer

SpyDealer can record video and take photos via front and rear cameras.[25]
S0328 Stealth Mango

Stealth Mango can record and take pictures using the front and back cameras.[26]
S1082 Sunbird

Sunbird can access a device’s camera and take photos.[18]
S1069 TangleBot

TangleBot can record video from the device camera.[27]
S0558 Tiktok Pro

Tiktok Pro can capture photos and videos from the device’s camera.[28]
S0418 ViceLeaker

ViceLeaker can take photos from both the front and back cameras.[29]
S0506 ViperRAT

ViperRAT can take photos with the device camera.[30]
G0112 Windshift

Windshift has included video recording in the malicious apps deployed as part of Operation BULL.[31]
S0489 WolfRAT

WolfRAT can take photos and videos.[32]

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1006 Use Recent OS Version

Android 9 and above restricts access to the mic, camera, and other device sensors from applications running in the background. iOS 14 and Android 12 introduced a visual indicator on the status bar (green dot) when an application is accessing the device’s camera.[33]

Detection

ID Data Source Data Component Detects
DS0041 Application Vetting Permissions Requests

During the vetting process, applications using the Android permission android.permission.CAMERA, or the iOS NSCameraUsageDescription plist entry could be given closer scrutiny.

DS0042 User Interface System Settings

The user can view which applications have permission to use the camera through the device settings screen, where the user can then choose to revoke the permissions.

References

  1. P Shunk, K Balaam. (2021, October 28). Rooting Malware Makes a Comeback: Lookout Discovers Global Campaign. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  2. Dela Paz, R. (2016, October 21). BITTER: a targeted attack against Pakistan. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  3. Kyle Schmittle, Alemdar Islamoglu, Paul Shunk, Justin Albrecht. (2023, April 27). Lookout Discovers Android Spyware Tied to Iranian Police Targeting Minorities: BouldSpy. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  4. Alexey Firsh. (2018, August 29). BusyGasper – the unfriendly spy. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  5. T. Bao, J. Lu. (2020, April 14). Coronavirus Update App Leads to Project Spy Android and iOS Spyware. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  6. Marc Rogers. (2014, March 6). Dendroid malware can take over your camera, record audio, and sneak into Google Play. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  7. A. Blaich, M. Flossman. (2018, April 16). Lookout finds new surveillanceware in Google Play with ties to known threat actor targeting the Middle East. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  8. Viral Gandhi. (2017, January 12). Super Mario Run Malware #2 – DroidJack RAT. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  9. B. Toulas. (2022, March 12). Android malware Escobar steals your Google Authenticator MFA codes. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  10. Security Without Borders. (2019, March 29). Exodus: New Android Spyware Made in Italy. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  11. Igor Golovin. (2022, April 11). Fakecalls: a talking Trojan. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  12. Actis B. (2017, April 22). FlexSpy Application Analysis. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  13. R. Iarchy, E. Rynkowski. (2018, July 5). GoldenCup: New Cyber Threat Targeting World Cup Fans. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  14. A. Kumar, K. Del Rosso, J. Albrecht, C. Hebeisen. (2020, June 1). Mobile APT Surveillance Campaigns Targeting Uyghurs - A collection of long-running Android tooling connected to a Chinese mAPT actor. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  15. E. Xu, G. Guo. (2019, June 28). Mobile Cyberespionage Campaign ‘Bouncing Golf’ Affects Middle East. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  16. A. Hinchliffe, M. Harbison, J. Miller-Osborn, et al. (2018, March 13). HenBox: The Chickens Come Home to Roost. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  17. Agranovich, D., et al. (2022, April). Adversarial Threat Report. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  1. Apurva Kumar, Kristin Del Rosso. (2021, February 10). Novel Confucius APT Android Spyware Linked to India-Pakistan Conflict. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  2. Bauer A., Kumar A., Hebeisen C., et al. (2019, July). Monokle: The Mobile Surveillance Tooling of the Special Technology Center. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  3. Blaich, A., et al. (2018, January 18). Dark Caracal: Cyber-espionage at a Global Scale. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  4. Mike Murray. (2017, April 3). Pegasus for Android: the other side of the story emerges. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  5. Flossman, M., Scott, M. (2021, April). Technical Paper // Taking Action Against Arid Viper. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  6. Veo Zhang. (2015, July 21). Hacking Team RCSAndroid Spying Tool Listens to Calls; Roots Devices to Get In. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  7. Nikita Buchka and Alexey Firsh. (2018, January 16). Skygofree: Following in the footsteps of HackingTeam. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  8. Wenjun Hu, Cong Zheng and Zhi Xu. (2017, July 6). SpyDealer: Android Trojan Spying on More Than 40 Apps. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  9. Lookout. (n.d.). Stealth Mango & Tangelo. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  10. Felipe Naves, Andrew Conway, W. Stuart Jones, Adam McNeil . (2021, September 23). TangleBot: New Advanced SMS Malware Targets Mobile Users Across U.S. and Canada with COVID-19 Lures. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  11. S. Desai. (2020, September 8). TikTok Spyware. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  12. GReAT. (2019, June 26). ViceLeaker Operation: mobile espionage targeting Middle East. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  13. M. Flossman. (2017, February 16). ViperRAT: The mobile APT targeting the Israeli Defense Force that should be on your radar. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  14. The BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team. (2020, October). BAHAMUT: Hack-for-Hire Masters of Phishing, Fake News, and Fake Apps. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  15. W. Mercer, P. Rascagneres, V. Ventura. (2020, May 19). The wolf is back... . Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  16. Android Developers. (, January). Android 9+ Privacy Changes . Retrieved August 27, 2019.