Security News > 2020 > March > CovidLock ransomware exploits coronavirus with malicious Android app
The app promises access to a coronavirus map tracker but instead holds your contacts and other data for ransom, DomainTools found.
A new type of ransomware known as CovidLock encrypts key data on an Android device and denies access to the victims unless they pay up, according to the threat intelligence firm DomainTools.
After the first cases of the coronavirus came to light, researchers at DomainTools discovered a small rise in the number of domain names associated with Coronavirus and COVID-19.
Monitoring the suspicious ones, DomainTools said it found one site that promises a real-time coronavirus outbreak tracker available as an Android app.
Though the app claims to offer heat map visuals and other statistical data about COVID-19, in actuality it's a purveyor of ransomware.