What’s on TV Tonight? Ransomware

Security researchers have discovered a variant of the FLocker Android ransomware that not only infects mobile devices, but also can infect smart TVs running certain versions of the operating system.

“While the screen is locked, the C&C server collects data such as device information, phone number, contacts, real time location, and other information.”

Connected devices have small, but often powerful, embedded computers and most of them have no security defenses and are rarely, if ever, updated. That can make them prime targets for this kind of ransomware.