This fake Cyberpunk 2077 download is really ransomware: What to do

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This faux Cyberpunk 2077 download is really ransomware: What to do

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Time to add another problem to the botched release of the video game Cyberpunk 2077: Ransomware posing every bit a Cyberpunk 2077 app is infecting Windows and Android devices.

The Android variant, discovered by Tatyana Shishkova of Kaspersky Lab, poses every bit an Android port of the best-selling-only-glitchy game. Of form, such a affair doesn't exist — Cyberpunk 2077 is merely for Windows, PlayStation, Xbox and Stadia.

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But if you install the app, a message pops up saying that your files have been locked and yous need to pay $500 in Bitcoin within 24 hours or everything volition exist deleted. The silver lining is that the encryption is difficult-coded in the app, Shishkova said, so you might exist able to unlock the files without paying the ransom.

Shishkova said the bogus app was constitute on a "fake website imitating Google Play Store" at cyberpunk2077mobile[dot]com. While that link no longer works, the fake Play Store could easily popular up again under a different URL.

❗️ RC4 algorithm with hardcoded key (in this case - "21983453453435435738912738921") is used for encryption. That means that if you got your files encrypted by this #ransomware, it is possible to decrypt them without paying the ransom. https://t.co/Lj1hD1SvRKDecember 17, 2020

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Every bit Bleeping Computer points out, the bogus Android app is a variant on Windows ransomware that appeared belatedly terminal calendar month posing as Cyberpunk 2077.

The ransom note for the Windows ransomware asked for $1,000 in Bitcoin within 10 hours before it would delete your files, but otherwise the note is almost identical to the Android i, and the Bitcoin accost you're meant to pay into is the same.

However, the note on the Windows variant did include a WhatsApp contact number in the Philippines. In that location also didn't appear to be a hardcoded decryption primal on that one.

Fortunately, fugitive infection in either case is pretty simple. Don't install Android apps from sources other than the official Play Shop (although that isn't foolproof, either). Avoid websites that pretend to exist Google Play.

For Windows, don't trust any digital download of Cyberpunk 2077 that doesn't come from a traditional gaming outlet: Microsoft, Steam, GOG, Stadia and so along.

And whether you're on Android or Windows, be sure to have some of the best antivirus software for PCs or one of the best Android antivirus apps loaded and running. They'll detect and destroy this Cyberpunk-related ransomware.

Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom's Guide focused on security and privacy. He has also been a dishwasher, fry cook, long-booty commuter, code monkey and video editor. He's been rooting around in the information-security infinite for more than 15 years at FoxNews.com, SecurityNewsDaily, TechNewsDaily and Tom's Guide, has presented talks at the ShmooCon, DerbyCon and BSides Las Vegas hacker conferences, shown upwardly in random TV news spots and even moderated a console discussion at the CEDIA home-engineering conference. You tin can follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/cyberpunk-ransomware

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