A developer's Android app is listed on Google Play with a 4.8-star rating and 5 million installs. They receive an email from 'Google Play Developer Support' saying their app has policy violations and they must click a link to review them. The link goes to play-google-developer-console.com.
What social engineering attack is this, and what is the security risk to the developer and their users if they fall for it?
- A.This is an automated store security notification, and the link always resolves to the console's own domain (the mail relay rewrites the address for click tracking); the risk to the developer is a missed deadline rather than a credential loss, and every message of this kind is generated by the policy engine: the users are unaffected either way
- B.This is a routine policy alert, and clicking through is safe with the store never sending a credential prompt in an email (the console session is already authenticated in the browser); the risk is that the developer ignores the notice and the listing is suspended, and every large publisher receives several a year: the install base is untouched by the exchange
- C.This is a phishing attack targeting developer account credentials (developer account hijacking); if the developer enters Play Console credentials on the fake domain, the attacker gains full control to push malicious updates to all 5 million users, change bank account details for developer earnings, and access all app analytics and user data