Mobile Ransomware is malware used by cybercriminals to attack mobile devices. Such an attack intends to steal confidential data from a smartphone or lock a device demanding a ransom payment to return the data or unlock the device. Sometimes users are tricked into downloading mobile ransomware through fake social networking scams, links, and attachments to make them think they are downloading valuable content or harmless software.

Why Cyberattack through Mobile devices?

It is not only the availability of sensitive information on mobile devices but the fact that mobile security is not widespread and is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations rely on cloud-based mobile applications and are ignorant about deploying security restrictions.  These pose a severe challenge to organizations taking a data-driven route to technological solutions.

Increasing Sophistication in Mobile Ransomware Attacks

Cyberattacks have increased and become more sophisticated. Before, threat actors did not have to encrypt any mobile data; encrypting the system was enough to get the desired result. Mobile users would be so surprised to get ransomware notices that they often pay without thinking twice. Cybercriminals have found better ways to remain unseen and undetected. This trend has become more rampant as threat actors blur the line between organizational and personal ransomware attacks, as mobiles contain both business data and personal credentials.

Consequences of Mobile Cyberattack Vectors

The impact of cyberattacks on mobile devices can be damaging.

How to Protect Against Mobile Ransomware Let us look at a few ways of protecting mobile devices against ransomware.

 

Wrap Up

Once the malware enters a device, it will trigger a pop-up of a fake message accusing the user of unlawful activity before encrypting files and locking the phone. The ransom payment demand is via Bitcoin. Upon receiving the ransom, a decryption code gets sent for data retrieval. Thus, Organizations and their cyber security teams need to intensify their security strategy and solutions to prevent these cyberattacks. An effective way is educating the users about device compromise and the various ransomware attacks. Also, deploy an enterprise-wide mobile security strategy for every employee whose devices connect to corporate infrastructure.