Four times the number of attacked users has increased ransomware, which turned against devices Android, within just one year, affecting at least 136.000 users world-wide. 
According to her report Kaspersky Lab for the landscape of threats ransomware, the majority of attacks are based on just four groups of malware.
The report covers a period of two years, which, for comparison purposes, is divided into two twelve-month periods: from April 2014 to March 2015 and from April 2015 to March 2016.
These time periods have been selected because there have been significant changes in the landscape of threats during their lifetime ransomware for portable devices.
Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents access to information contained in device του θύματος, κλειδώνοντας την οθόνη με ένα ειδικό παράθυρο ή κρυπτογραφώντας σημαντικά archives, so as to demand a ransom afterwards. These programs are a highly recognized security problem.
But it is not just computer users who are at risk. The landscape of digital threats for Android device owners is also full of ransomware programs, as clearly seen from the main findings of the report.
Important findings:
- The number of users who were attacked with mobile ransomware has almost quadrupled: from 35.413 users in 2014-2015, to 136.532 users in 2015-2016.
- The percentage of users who were attacked with mobile ransomware compared to the number of users who were attacked by all kinds of malware for Android devices also increased: from 2,04% in 2014-2015, to 4,63% in 2015-2016.
- Only four malware groups were responsible for over 90% of all attacks recorded at that time. These are the malicious families Small, Fusob, Pletor and Svpeng.
- Unlike the threats facing computers, where ransomware programs that use encryption processes (crypto-ransomware) have skyrocketed, while the number of screen-blocker attacks is decreasing, Android ransomware mostly takes the form of screen-blockers. This is due to the fact that Android devices cannot remove screen-blockers with the help of external hardware, which makes these programs as effective as crypto-ransomware for computers.
Although the actual number of mobile device users attacked by ransomware is lower and the growth rate is slower than observed for ransomware. ransomware programs for computers, the situation with ransomware programs for Android is still worrying.
At the start of the comparison period, the monthly number of users who encountered this type of malware on Android devices was almost zero, but by the end it had reached almost 30.000 users per month.
This clearly shows that criminals actively explore alternatives to computer attacks and persist.
"The pattern of extortion is here to stay. The programms mobile ransomware προέκυψαν ως συνέχεια των ransomware για υπολογιστές και είναι πιθανό ότι θα ακολουθήσουν κακόβουλα προγράμματα με στόχο συσκευές που είναι πολύ διαφορετικές από έναν υπολογιστή ή ένα smartphone. Αυτές θα μπορούσαν να είναι συνδεδεμένες συσκευές, όπως «έξυπνα» ρολόγια, «έξυπνες» τηλεοράσεις κι άλλα «έξυπνα» προϊόντα, συμπεριλαμβανομένων συστημάτων ψυχαγωγίας για το σπίτι και το car. There are indications that this may happen for some of these devices, so it's only a matter of time before malware targeting "smart" devices emerges"Said Roman Unuchek, Mobile Security Expert of Kaspersky Lab.
To protect against mobile ransomware attacks, Kaspersky Lab recommends that users:
- Restrict the installation of applications from sources other than the official app store.
- Use a trusted security solution that can detect malware and malware.
- If installing applications from non-official sources is inevitable, then care must be taken to what kind of permission the application requests. Such apps should not be installed unless the device has a security solution installed.
- To "educate" themselves and their relatives about the latest forms of malware and how to propagate them. This helps identify an attempted social engineering attack.
The full report is available on the site Securelist.com.
