The Federal Government has alerted Nigerians to the existence of an Android-based malicious and fraudulent Coronavirus Ransomware.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that the Ransomware is an application which blocks access to users’ personal data and accounts and threatens deletion, unless users pay One Hundred US Dollars ($100) in Bitcoin within 48 hours.
Alhaji Mohammed recalled that the Ransomware App, detected on the website, www.coronavirusapp.site, prompts users to download an Android App purportedly for coronavirus map tracking and heat map visuals.
He further stated that the development confirms warnings against cyber criminals seeking to exploit the growing spread of the virus for nefarious gains.
The Minister therefore called on the general public not to download the Ransomware App but to seek updates on the pandemic only from the appropriate authorities.
