A new virus is roaming the internet, specifically targeting Android users. The malware, known as OwnMe, enters your phone secretly through downloaded apps.
As soon as the virus enters your phone, it starts stealing an individual’s personal data. Fortunately, an antivirus company has found out about OwnMe, and has said that it affects WhatsApp the most.
According to the company, OwnMe steals an individual’s personal chat, shared images and videos from WhatsApp. It also reveals your call history, messaging history, and your internet browsing history. Using the individual’s broadband speed, the virus sends all this data to a parent server.
Cyber experts say that the identity of OwnMe is very difficult, so it is important that no unnecessary sources go away from downloading unnoticed websites.
Recently, a method of cyberattacks called "cryptojacking" by security experts hit the internet.
It "consists of entrapping an internet server, a personal computer or a smartphone to install malware to mine cryptocurrencies," said Gerome Billois, an expert at the IT service management company Wavestone. Mining is basically the process of helping verify and process transactions in a given virtual currency. In exchange miners are now and then rewarded with some of the currency themselves.
Legitimate mining operations link thousands of processors together to increase the computing power available to earn cryptocurrencies. Mining bitcoin, ethereum, monero and other cryptocurrencies may be very profitable, but it does require considerable investments and generates huge electricity bills. But hackers have found a cheaper option: surreptitiously exploiting the processors in smartphones. To lure victims, hackers turn to the digital world's equivalent of the Trojan horse subterfuge of Greek mythology: inside an innocuous-looking app or programme hides a malicious one.
