Mobile ransomware grows three-fold in Q1: Report

As global ransomware attacks show no signs of slowing down, the volume of mobile ransomware has grown over three-fold during the first quarter of the year, a cyber security firm said on Friday.
According to Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab, the number of mobile ransomware files detected reached 2,18,625 during the first quarter, compared to 61,832 in the previous quarter.
The growth of ransomware attacks on all devices grew with 11 new cryptor families and 55,679 new modifications making their appearance in the first quarter.
The growth of ransomware attacks on all devices grew with 11 new cryptor families and 55,679 new modifications making their appearance in the first quarter.
“Ransomware targeting mobile devices soared in first quarter, with new ransomware families and modifications continuing to proliferate. People need to bear in mind that attackers can try to block access to their data not only on a PC but also on their mobile device,” said Roman Unuchek, Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
“Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Fusob.h” remained the most widely used mobile ransomware, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of all users attacked by this threat.
“Once run, the Trojan requests administrator privileges, collects information about the device, including GPS coordinates and call history, and uploads the data to a malicious server. Based on what it receives, the server may send back a command to block the device,” the company explained.