Cyber criminals have kicked it up a notch with nasty malware that locks you out of your machine and holds it for ransom.

PCs aren't the only targets of ransomware: Now there's a form that targets Android devices. One such variant is Simplocker -- mostly found in Russia and Ukraine -- that poses as an Android app that, once installed, finds files and encrypts them. The good news, researchers say, is it's more of a "proof of concept" at this point.

"It operates as crypto-ransomware and does encrypt popular consumer document files," Bambenek says. "It is theoretically possible to recover files because the private key is not stored elsewhere but in the code of the malware itself."

(Source: Blue Coat)

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About the Author(s)

Kelly Jackson Higgins, Editor-in-Chief, Dark Reading

Kelly Jackson Higgins is the Editor-in-Chief of Dark Reading. She is an award-winning veteran technology and business journalist with more than two decades of experience in reporting and editing for various publications, including Network Computing, Secure Enterprise Magazine, Virginia Business magazine, and other major media properties. Jackson Higgins was recently selected as one of the Top 10 Cybersecurity Journalists in the US, and named as one of Folio's 2019 Top Women in Media. She began her career as a sports writer in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and earned her BA at William & Mary. Follow her on Twitter @kjhiggins.

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