What is Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go (stylized as Pokémon GO) is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. It was initially released in selected countries in July 2016. — Wikipedia.

Have you been down the strand lately and seen hordes of people looking at their phone, walking along in groups? There is a very good chance they playing Pokemon Go on their phones.

Pokemon Go is a free application you can download from your App Store, which places Pokemon creatures on your screen using your camera in real world locations. The object of the game is to find, capture and train these creatures while accumulating points.

What is Ransomware

Ransomware is software specifically designed to block access to your computer or to using applications on your computer until a ransom of cash is paid.

The ransomware creators usually request the cash ransom to be paid in the form of bitcoins, so as to not be traced.  Most often when the ransom is paid the software is not removed from the computer, and the criminals are never seen heard from again.

Townsville computer repairs Nerds see a lot of Ransomware. Most ransomware is easy to remove and some take a little more effort. There are certain ransomware variants such as Cryptolockers which encrypt your files and turn them unusable which are impossible to remove, or make readable.

I have only met a few people in Townsville who have opted to pay the criminals for the release of encryption lockers and none of their payments where honoured by the criminals.

What is Pokemon Go Ransomware

So I k ow what you are thinking. If Pokemon Go is a game played on your phone, how come we don’t see people walking down the strand using their laptops to navigate the skateboarders, cyclist and joggers?

Your right. Pokemon Go is deigned and make to use on your phone, take advantage of the camera on the front of your device.  But there are ways to play the game on your computer, and people trying it are being targeted by Ransomware developers to take advantage.

Most indicators are showing the Pokemon Ransomware is not fully developed yet and is only targeting Microsoft Windows users.

Dealing with Ransomware

Like most things in life, prevention is a lot better and easier than the cure.

Townsville Nerds recommend you always have an antivirus program on your computer, free or paid for there are many good option which can be found on this site.

Always back up your data regularly. Whether you just copy your data to an external hard drive, back up to the cloud or use some sort of back up software, you should always make a copy of your files.

And last buy not least, don’t install anything you download from the internet without doing you due diligence first.

Please call Townsville Nerds for all your virus and ransomware problems on 0402 807 890.