The latest news has uncovered that potentially thousands of Android users may be at risk to a newly discovered form of malware, which attempts to extort victims by threatening to leak a trove of personal information including photos, website histories and text messages unless a ‘ransom’ is paid to the hackers. Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech.com commented below.
Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech.com:
“Bucking the recent trend of ransomware demanding money for the return of encrypted data, LeakerLocker’s business model is a potentially far more lucrative one, ensnaring a massive p
“What’s worth noting here though is the fact that the rogue app, found in the Google Play Store, may not be telling the whole truth about how much user data it has filed away on the author’s server – only a limited amount of information is actually swiped.
“Thus, victims should think very carefully about paying up. While early indications suggest that paying the ransomware may lead to any snatched data being deleted, to do so is to encourage malware authors to continue creating ransomware such as this. Not only that, but who’s to say the creator of LeakerLocker isn’t creating backups of the data it steals?
“Everyone else should remember not only the importance of only sourcing apps from official stores but also the value in vetting the developers behind them too.”
