Everyone knows that porn apps are more often than not riddled with malware and other security problems; that fact has not stopped these things from plaguing mobile devices. The latest malware riddle porn app does more than install ads or steal information, it takes pictures of the user and locks the user out of the smartphone. Unlocking it will only cost a small sum of US$500 (about RM2149).
Adult Player, the offending app, is not actually available on the Google Play store. It can only be found through third party sites, and must be installed manually. Of course, the people behind the app have made it very simple to find and install. The app itself does not contain any pornography, or even links to porn. It instead only displays page saying it needs to install an update.
During this time the app takes over the front facing camera and snaps a quick picture of the user. It then proceeds to display a customised ransom message with the victims picture on the front display and locks the screen. The victim will then be unable to do anything other than look at the message asking them to pay the US$500 ransom to have their phone unlocked. Oh, and the malware also prevents the display from turning itself off; meaning that the message will be left on until the phone runs out of power.
Of course, this sort of malware is not entirely foolproof and can be removed; but only if the victim knows what they are doing. Rebooting the device in safe mode will prevent the ransom message from taking over the display; allowing the malware to be safely deleted. That being said, if the victims knew what they were doing they wouldn’t have installed a suspicious third party app that requests access to the camera.
While this malware is extremely creative in creating a customised ransom message for the user, it is one of the less destructive versions of ransomware that have been appearing on the internet. More severe versions attack and encrypt entire hard drives, preventing the data from being recovered until the ransom is paid. In these cases the victims have a limited amount of time to pay up or risk the decryption key being destroyed.
The best way to avoid these situations is to avoid installing suspicious apps or programmes on any device. Most malware relies on social engineering to get around computer defences, and simply being aware of what is going on is the best way to stay safe.
[Source: Zscaler]
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