Beiruting News

A malicious pornography app for Android has been extorting people who download it by taking pictures of them.

Adult Player demanded $500 (£330) from users after secretly taking photos of them using the front-facing camera. The ransomware displayed a warning message that locked the device until payment was received.

The app, which isn't available on the official Google Play store, asks for administrator access to the device that then allows it to load malicious files once installed. If a front-facing camera is detected the ransomware takes a picture of the victim before collecting and sending data about the device to the hacker's servers.

Once the servers respond the device is locked and the ransomware screen is displayed. A message explains the device has been locked "for safety reasons" and demands $500 be transferred via PayPal. Security firm Zscaler, which uncovered the app, said other similar apps using the same ransomware had also been discovered.