While the globe is busy battling with the ongoing outbreak of the Covid-19 virus as well as searching for solution, some people, disguised as hackers are taking advantage of the situation to exploit unsuspecting Android users by developing a malicious app.
A malicious Android app has been developed that promises to help you track coronavirus cases near you and globally, but it’s just a scheme to get some ransomware on your phone.
How The App Works
The app promises to offer users with a solution that scans and monitors your surroundings for COVID-19 cases. To fully activate it, the app asks you for some highly unusual permission. It wants to “Activate lock screen to get an instant alert when a coronavirus patient is near your†and “enable the app in Accessibility for active stats monitoringâ€
Once the app is granted those permissions, it will alter your smartphone lock screen password and then, it asks you for a $100 bitcoin ransom to get access to your phone again.
But if your smartphone is running the latest update from Android 7 nougat and above, you may likely not be affected by this malware has google added some security measures to control such attacks. If you also don’t use a screen lock either passcode or pattern, the malware may still attack you.
To be protected from malware attacks, be mindful of the third party sources you download your applications from and always make sure you update your device.
You can read more about the malicious site distributing the app from the source link below
