Kaspersky Lab specialists have discovered a virus used on Android devices to spy on Russians, reports Vedomosti, citing the company. The trojan has been named LianSpy.

According to the organization, it may have started spying in mid-2021, but its detection was difficult due to active trace hiding, so it was only found in the spring of 2024. The surveillance was not widespread but rather targeted.

Since the trojan's discovery, Kaspersky Lab has identified more than ten targets. The company did not specify who exactly fell victim to the virus, noting that experts operate with hidden data based on the activation of a special service.

Dmitry Kalinin, a cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab, explained that LianSpy disguises itself as system applications and financial services, although it is not interested in user financial information. "The malware’s functionality includes collecting and transmitting to attackers the contact list from the infected device, as well as call log data and the list of installed applications," Kalinin noted.

LianSpy can bypass Android notifications indicating that the camera or microphone is being used at the moment, disabling the icon that appears during screen recording. The infection of devices could occur remotely using several unidentified vulnerabilities or by gaining physical access to the phone, the specialist added.