Fake Cyberpunk 2077 Mobile Game Contains Ransomware
Mike Sanders / 4 years ago
Given that Cyberpunk 2077 is a game in which one of the central gameplay aspects is hacking, you may have thought that this would’ve been something of a moderate precursor to remind everyone that, by and large, while the internet is a wonderful place, there is also a part of it completely devoted to stealing information (or money) from you.
Following a Twitter post by user ‘@sh1shk0va‘, however, it seems that we might have something very ironic on our hands here as a mobile version of Cyberpunk 2077, currently available on the Google Play store, has been found to contain ransomware!
New Android #Ransomware disguised as #Cyberpunk2077 game.
— Tatyana Shishkova (@sh1shk0va) December 16, 2020
Downloaded from fake website imitating Google Play Store.
Extension: .coderCrypt
Family: CoderWare/BlackKingdom https://t.co/JBudDP6vG1 pic.twitter.com/TdM4SAkFWl
Cyberpunk 2077 Fake Mobile Game
Initially, the ‘game’ presents itself fairly legitimate with it citing positive reviews and the apparent makers mark of CD Projekt Red. As you may be aware, however, these are very common tactics used with fake/scam applications and you only have to scratch the surface before warning signs, such as exceptionally crude spelling mistakes, begin to appear.
So, what does this do? – Well, a major alarm bell should start ringing when booting up the application as it asks for access to your media files. If you do, however, say yes, the app goes on to completely lock them out with, as you might have guessed, a message popping up requesting $500 in Bitcoin to allow you access to the encrypted files again.
What To Do?…
Fortunately, it seems that the ransomware hidden within this app is somewhat crude and, as such, if you have any knowledge of coding, a quick look in the application files can reveal the code to unlock your encrypted data. – Just in case it needed to be said though, we should make it 100% clear that there is no official mobile version of Cyberpunk 2077. So if you do see one advertised, just avoid it as you would 80% of the other shovelware contained on such mobile store platforms.
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!