Police in Tokyo have arrested 6 men on suspicion of creating a virus specifically targeted for Android mobiles, that police believe netted them approximately 20m yen (£161,158/$253,273).
The virus was veiled as an app for viewing videos and was available to users through a porn website. Once the app was downloaded, it would not let the user watch a video but would demand a payment of 99,800 yen ($1265/£805) every few minutes.

Police believe that nearly 10,000 people downloaded the phony app, but only 211 actually forked out the funds that it demanded!! However, even those who did not pay the huge fee that the virus app demanded still suffered. Once the virus had been installed on an Android phone it was programmed to steal contacts and personal information from the device.

Police reports state that 2 of the 6 men who were arrested held senior management positions in hi-tech Japanese companies.

It is believed that this is the first case of a virus being specifically written for a smartphone in Japan, however security organizations are warning that there may be a sharp increase in viruses targeted especially to strike Android phones, with one company estimating that there could be as many as 120,000 to watch out for by the end of this year!

(Via BBC)

Share and Enjoy