Beware Of DroidLock Malware That Hijacks Android Devices To Extort Ransom Money

The holidays may be upon us, but that isn’t slowing down threat actors. Zimperium’s zlabs research team has discovered a new piece of malware targeting Android users, dubbed DroidLock, that aims to completely hijack a device and enable the theft of login credentials or destruction of a victim’s data.

As seen with other recent malware it “propagates via phishing websites,” where users are tricked into installing the malicious app that masquerades as a legitimate one. The installation process even displays a dialog box that includes the Google Play logo to further give the impression of legitimacy. Once installed, it requests a wide range of permissions that gives attackers significant control over the device.

Once the device is under an attacker’s control, the malware is able to do serious damage. One of its features is that it displays an overlay on the entire screen threatening users that ...