New Malware installs fake Pornhub App, asks $100 in Bitcoin to regain access

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There is no denying that Android smartphones are more likely to get affected by some kind of malware or any other malicious software. In this case, your options are to stay clear from any and all apps that are available outside the Google Play Store. The fact that not all the apps are available in the Google Play Store is indeed a major concern for most people, and this is where the third party developers and their apps come into the picture. But when it comes to the third party and other external sources of apps, then security is a major concern as well.

On the same lines, we now have new reports according to which a malicious Pornhub apps is out there in the wild affecting a lot of Android smartphones. Researchers from cyber security firm ESET have discovered a new attack which is making a lot of Android users install the malware disguised a PornHub app. If you didn’t know already, PornHub does have an Android App, but it is not available on Google Play store as Google does not allows pornographic apps from appearing on the Play Store.

Since these kind of apps are not available in the Google Play Store, users are often pushed to go outside and check out the third party developers’ platform to get these apps. And since there is no info about how secure these apps are, there is no other option than either choosing to move away from them or simply install them. And this is where hackers get the upper hand and try to affect your smartphone. On the same lines, this alleged new PornHub app is also doing something on the same lines.

Once you install this so called PornHub app, it refuses to play any videos before it makes your check your smartphone for any virus. And since videos are why most people installed the app, there are no other options than simply allowing it to proceed. And now instead of scanning your smartphone, it installs a malware which locks you out of your smartphone. To regain access, users are asked to pay $100 in Bitcoin. ESET has published guidelines on be safe against these kinds of software and in fact, you are already affected, there are ways with which you can remove the virus from your smartphone.

First of all, you need to make sure that you are installing apps only from Google Play Store since all apps are safe and you don’t have to worry about any malware, etc. However, on the other hand, if you are already affected then depending on how severe the attack is, you can do the following things to take things back to normal –

• Try booting in safe mode since you can block out all the third party apps there and wipe out the malware.
• if your device’s lock screen is affected then there certain workaround like resetting your lock screen via Google’s Android Device manager, etc.
• However, if none of the options work, then your only option is to wipe your smartphone completely by performing a factory data reset.

Having said, that, we suggest you make sure that you only install the apps from your Google Play store only and share this with everyone you know so that they can also make use of this info. Stay tuned to PhoneRadar for more info like this.

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