More than 25 percent of malware distributed in Australia during May was Android ransomware, a rise from February when Android ransomware levels were at 6 percent. Research from Bitdefender reports six months of steady growth in ransomware in Australia, with peaks in April amounting to Android ransomware at 23 percent.
According to Bitdefender, the increase is due to cyber crooks targeting Australians to generate revenue. The success of ransomware such as Cryptowall, which caused US$18 million worth of losses in 2014, has inspired malware coders to explore new ways of infecting more victims by creating ransomware for Android devices.
“With Android shipments exceeding 1 billion devices in 2014, it is little wonder the market is sparking the interest of cybercriminals who see it as an environment equally as profitable as PCs,” Bitdefender e-threat analyst Bogdan Botezatu said.
“We’ve been seeing Android ransomware samples for the better part of a year now. They were mostly designed to scare users into thinking they’re infected by displaying an easily-removable pop-up that contained the same message as PC ransomware.”
He said users only need limited technical knowledge to remove the pop-up and application from their smartphone.
However, new examples of the Android ransomware can block a smartphone’s keys so the user has to shut down their device.
According to Botezatu, the ransomware is spread through third-party marketplaces.
“If you get infected, we strongly recommend not paying the ransom, as that only fuels the cyber-criminal activity. Make sure you always have a mobile security solution installed, as it will detect and report any attempt of inadvertent download or installation of malware,” he said.
