Trustlook Mobile Security Launches New Ransomware Hunter App

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - July 20, 2016) - Trustlook, a leading global mobile security provider, announced today the release of a new application to combat the increasingly popular and harmful type of mobile malware known as ransomware.

Hackers use ransomware to encrypt mobile device files and then demand money in exchange for unencrypting the content. Ransomware's scary premise prompts many to succumb to the demand in order to save their data. Trustlook's new app, named Ransomware Hunter, helps users identify ransomware threats and eliminate them with just three taps.

Trustlook has identified more than 30,000 ransomware samples in its mobile device threat warehouse. While still small relative to the entire universe of known malware, this category has grown by 300 percent in just the past year. In total, ransomware infections cost users more than $1.6 million last year, according to the FBI.

"We are seeing more and more instances of ransomware applications for Android devices," said Jinjian Zhai, Head of Research at Trustlook. "That is why we felt it was important to build a special-purpose application dedicated to identifying and rooting out these dangerous apps."

Android device owners who use a reputable mobile antivirus app, such as Trustlook Mobile Security, are already protected against ransomware threats. Ransomware Hunter offers a solution for those users who have yet to install a mobile device security app, or for anyone who wants an additional layer of protection against ransomware.

Android ransomware mostly spreads through Android apk files, and links to ransomware files may be posted in emails or chats. In typical ransomware scams the user is usually prompted to pay up in Bitcoin, which is harder to trace than other forms of payment. After they pay, and the transaction is verified, the files are decrypted and the ransomware deletes itself. Because ransomware is hard to detect and users are likely to pay the ransom, the threat is expected to continue to grow.

The free Ransomware Hunter app is available for download via the Google Play store. More information on Trustlook Mobile Security is available at www.trustlook.com.

About Trustlook
Trustlook (www.trustlook.com) is a global leader in next-generation mobile device security with solutions that find more vulnerabilities sooner than any other to provide the industry's smallest vulnerability window. The innovative Trustlook Mobile Security-as-a-Service (MSaaS) cloud platform delivers the performance and scalability needed to provide total threat protection against viruses, spyware, phishing, ID theft, data loss, snooping and other forms of attack. Trustlook's solutions protect users from both known and zero-day threats by examining over 20,000 new and updated applications every day for malware and malicious behavior. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Jose and managed by leading security experts from Palo Alto Networks, FireEye, Google, Yahoo and Samsung.