How to Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware

Last updated January 9, 2025 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Protect Godfather Malware in Android apps.

What is Godfather Malware?

Godfather is an Android banking Trojan that targets over 500 banking and cryptocurrency apps across 16 countries globally. It uses overlay attacks to mimic legitimate app interfaces, tricking users into entering login credentials on fake screens. By exploiting Android’s Accessibility Services, Godfather monitors user interactions and intercepts SMS messages, enabling it to bypass two-factor authentication (2FA) mechanisms. The malware’s ability to masquerade as trusted financial applications and dynamically evade detection makes it a significant threat. Developers and security professionals should protect against Godfather malware to prevent financial losses, unauthorized access, and data breaches, which carry severe risks for both users and businesses. Godfather’s specific capabilities include monitoring Accessibility Services to capture interactions, performing overlay attacks to harvest login credentials, intercepting SMS for 2FA bypass, and using deceptive tactics to gain permissions and access sensitive data without raising suspicion. Godfather can also mimic user actions on infected Android devices with new gesture automation commands.

How does Appdome Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware?

Taking all the above into consideration, you can use Appdome to protect against Godfather using a combination of the following protection methods:

  • RASP & App Shielding – Prevents Godfather from injecting itself into installed apps and repackaging them. Also includes anti-tampering, anti-debugging, anti-emulator, and other protections against dynamic attacks at runtime.
  • Code Obfuscation – Protects against decompiling and malicious reverse engineering which hackers use to read and understand source code.
  • Root Detection – Protects mobile apps from running on rooted devices, which exposes apps to tampering, data theft, and malware by giving attackers elevated access to system files and app data.
  • MitM Attack Prevention – Prevents Godfather from intercepting or hijacking sessions to harvest or steal data that it uses to conduct ATOs.
  • Overlay Attack Prevention – Detects and prevents fake/malicious screen overlays from displaying on top of the app screen and concealing the legitimate app screen.
  • Keylogging Prevention – Prevents the use of malicious keyloggers which are used to intercept two-factor authentication codes or harvest sensitive information.
  • Accessibility Services Malware Defense – Prevents malicious actions taken by malware that exploit Android’s AccessibilityService, which is abused by Godfather to intercept sensitive inputs like passwords and 2FA codes, OTPs, take screenshots, and simulate user actions such as taps and swipes.
  • Google Play Store Signature Validation – Protects against fake apps, clones, masquerading.

Each of the protections above is linked to the relevant knowledge base article for that feature, which provides detailed information about each feature and explains how to implement the protection in your Android app.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Protect Godfather Malware , you’ll need:

How to Implement Protect Godfather Malware in Android Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Protect Godfather Malware without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Android Formats: .apk or .aab
    3. Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware is compatible with: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps.
  2. Select the defense: Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you enable Detect Bank Trojan Apps you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware.

        Fusion Set applied Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti ATO tab > Banking Trojans section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On Detect Bank Trojan Apps > Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware.
        Note: The checkmark feature Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware is enabled by default, as shown below. Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware option

        Figure 4: Selecting Protect Godfather Malware

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware feature in Android Apps

    After building Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Godfather Malware Intelligence and Control in Android Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Godfather Malware is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Godfather Malware in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Godfather Malware shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Godfather Malware are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Protect Godfather Malware Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Protecting Godfather Malware Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Android developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Android applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Godfather Malware is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Apps by using Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Protect Android Apps Against Godfather Malware

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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