A new Android ransomware is infecting smartphones through SMS messages

Do you own an Android smartphone? If yes, take a moment to stop and read this as security researchers have discovered a new ransomware that specifically targets Android smartphones and spreads over to other devices using an SMS containing an malicious code. Security researchers from cyber security firm ESET in a blog post published earlier this week revealed that they had discovered a new ransomware -- Android/Filecoder.C - that targets Android smartphones and has been active since July 12, 2019. Malicious hackers behind this hack have tried to distribute the ransomware to the masses via Reddit and via XDA Developers forum. While XDA Developers removed the posts containing the malicious code, the post on Reddit was still up, the researchers noted in a blog post. Once a user downloads an infected file, the Android/Filecoder.C ransomware spreads further via SMS with malicious links, which are sent to all the contacts in the victim's contact list.