Artificial Intelligence Platforms

Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender has uncovered an Android malware campaign in which attackers hid a fake antivirus app called TrustBastion on the popular AI platform Hugging Face, then used scare‑tactic ads and warnings to trick users into sideloading it. Once installed, TrustBastion immediately claims the device is infected and pushes a bogus 'update' that installs a powerful Trojan capable of taking screenshots, presenting fake login pages for financial services, and capturing the device’s lock‑screen PIN before sending that data to a remote server. Researchers say the attackers repeatedly re‑created near‑identical malicious repositories on Hugging Face with only cosmetic changes after initial takedowns, complicating efforts to stamp out the campaign. Google said there are currently no known apps with this malware on the official Google Play store and that Android users are protected against known variants by Google Play Protect, but warned that users who sideload apps from outside official stores remain at risk. The incident underscores how criminals are now abusing trusted AI code‑sharing platforms and trusted security‑app branding to reach U.S. consumers’ phones and steal money or seize accounts.