AnyDesk Software GmbH was founded in 2014 in Stuttgart, Germany and has now local sister companies in the US and in China. In May 2018, AnyDesk secured 6.5 million Euros of funding in a Series A round led by EQT Ventures. Another round of investment in January 2020 brings AnyDesk to over 20 million Dollars of combined funding.
Software
AnyDesk uses a proprietary video codec "DeskRT" that is designed to allow users to experience higher-quality video and sound transmission while reducing the transmitted amount of data to the minimum. With its three megabyte total program size, AnyDesk is noted as an especially lightweight application.
Features
Availability of features is dependent upon the license of the individual user. Some main features include:
AnyDesk uses TLS-1.2 with authenticated encryption. Every connection between AnyDesk-Clients is secured with AES-256. When a direct network connection can be established, the session is endpoint encrypted and its data is not routed through AnyDesk servers. Additionally, whitelisting of incoming connections is possible.
Abuses
AnyDesk can be installed on computers and smartphones with full administrative permissions, if the user chooses to do so and can therefore be used to gain full access to a device via the internet.
Mobile access fraud
In February 2019, Reserve Bank of India warned of an emerging digital banking fraud, explicitly mentioning AnyDesk as the attack-channel. The general scam procedure is as follows: fraudsters get victims to download AnyDesk from the Google Play Store on their mobile phone, usually by mimicking the customer service of legitimate companies. Then, the scammers convince the victim to provide the nine-digit access code and to grant certain permissions. After permissions are obtained and if no other security measures are in place, the scammers usually transfer money using the Unified Payment Interface.
Bundling with ransomware
In May 2018, the Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro discovered that cybercriminals bundled a new ransomware variant with AnyDesk, possibly as an evasion tactic masking the true purpose of the ransomware while it performs its encryption routine.
Technical support scams
Scammers have been known to use AnyDesk and similar remote desktop software to obtain full access to the victims computer by impersonating a technical support person. The victim is asked to download and install AnyDesk and provide the attackers with access. When access is obtained, the attackers can control the computer and move personal files and sensitive data. In 2017, the UK based ISPTalkTalk banned AnyDesk and similar software from all its networks to protect its users from scammers, cold calling victims and talking them into giving access to their computer. The software was removed from the blacklist after setting up a scam warning.
