Horrified! Porn Malware Attacks 1.2 Million Users Mobile Devices

In 2017, there were 25.4% of mobile device users who had to deal with malware - more than 1.2 million people - and were attacked by malicious programs using adult content to lure them to install malware on their devices. This is one of the findings of Kaspersky Lab's latest report entitled 'Cyberthreats facing users of adult websites and apps'.

As is often expressed by many advertising actors that adult content sells. However, in cyberspace, this topic not only serves as a method to increase sales but also as a tool for malicious activity. This is even clearer when Kaspersky Lab experts see how cybercrimes use adult content in their activities. It turns out the most active use of porn topics in the landscape of mobile device threats. During the research, Kaspersky Lab experts identified 23 types of malware using porn content to hide their true functionality.

The study shows that when downloading unknown porn applications, users are at risk of infection called clickers. Once infected, this malware starts clicking on an ad link or trying to put users into a WAP subscription to drain their prepaid mobile credit.

Trojan banking disguised as a porn video player is a malware under the guise of the second most widely distributed pornography. After that followed by rooting malware and ransomware. Even ransomware is often present in the form of legitimate applications for known porn sites. In many cases, pornographic ransomware uses scareware tactics that lock the screen of the device and show a message stating that illegal content (usually child pornography) has been detected on the device, and the device has been locked. To unlock the device, the victim has to pay a ransom. This message usually comes with a screenshot of a real child porn video.