Porn app secretly photographs users and then hijacks phone, demands ransom (BLOG)

(IBNLIVE)New Delhi: In yet another instance of privacy breach, a smartphone app has been found to secretly take pictures of its users for ra...

(IBNLIVE)New Delhi: In yet another instance of privacy breach, a smartphone app has been found to secretly take pictures of its users for ransom. The porn app, Adult Player, is an Android app and security analysts at Zscaler have discovered that it runs a malicious code and once it locks the phone, it asks for hundreds of dollars in ransom to unlock the device. A report on Sky News notes that the photographs of users taken without their permission is incorporated into a digital ransom note asking for $500 to be paid via PayPal and in return, the attackers promise to unlock the phone and delete the photos. However, those who’ve fallen prey to the hack have complained that even after paying the ransom, their phone was left bricked. Zscaler analysts suggest an alternative to get rid of the malicious app without paying the ransom. Users must ensure their device is booted up in safe mode, where in device administrator mode, the app can be selected and disabled. Furthermore, the malicious app cannot be installed from Google Play, but is available on a website. Users should thus make sure to install apps from the official store and back up their data in case they are hit by ransomware.