New ransomware says you've been watching porn on your Android device

Ransomware has become big business these days, with high-profile cases affecting computer users. Up until now though, mobile users have remained relatively safe from that particular form of infestation and only had the "garden variety" version of malware to contend with. That landscape is changing rapidly, it seems.

Security researchers at AVG have uncovered what they dub "Porn Droid". The infected device is locked by the "FBI" and the user gets a message demanding money in exchange for restoring the phone or tablet. To make the message particularly scary, it claims the offense is for child pornography.

Perhaps the worst part is that the user has to walk through steps to infect their own device. According to AVG, the scenario goes like this -- "After masquerading as a Google patch update, the malware then asks for a number of powerful permissions including 'Erase all data' and 'set storage encryption'".

AVG recommends that all users pay careful attention to the list of permissions an app asks to be granted, plus it thinks you should always maintain up-to-date security software. The security firm has produced a video guide to help point out the danger signs and you can watch that below. That or you can pay the $500 being demanded by the scammers.

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