More bad news for device security as the existence of Android Apps which allow even novice tech users to create their own ransomware has been discovered. What’s worse is the app appears to generate ransomware with just a few taps using its friendly UI.
The days of requiring an advanced level of coding skillset to create any form is ransomware appears to be gone as the existence of a Trojan Development Kit (TDK) seems readily available to the public. There’s nothing good to be gained when a novice user is allowed control and use of any TDK. This create-your-own ransomware android app in question is available to download and extract onto any Android phone.
Once the APK is downloaded the user is free to proceed with the user friendly UI and specify the following:
- A ransom message
- An unlock key
- The ransomware’s app icon
- Randomisation of the code
- The animation shown on the infected machine/device
Once the ‘order process’ is complete, the user pays a small subscription fee to the developer of the app and once paid the user can create as many custom ransomware versions as s/he wishes. All they would need to do is secure a payment portal for when/if ransom payments are paid.
Fortunately there’s a bit of good news to report on and it is because all of the TDK’s are aimed at Chinese-speaking audiences so in the meantime it can be safe to say that we can expect attacks to have tell-tale signs that only Chinese speaking countries have, such as poor grammar and Chinese domain registrations. IT security services will definitely be on red-alert for when an English version of the TDK is released and an even wider audience has access to the TDK’s.
In the meantime keep you Android device up to date and apply the latest updates as soon as possible. Never install apps from outside of the Google Play Store and when you do download an app from the Google Play Store ensure that it’s authentic. Managed IT services providers always recommend employees to have the latest versions of antivirus on their desktops – the same applies to your mobile devices which has the potential to compromise any home or work network environment.
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