Android 7.0 beefs up ‘ransomware’ protection

The next release of Android’s operating system, code-named Nougat, will prevent malware from locking users’ screens, a Symantec researcher wrote on a corporate blog. 

Ransomware, a type of application that extorts victims by locking up data or devices, often works by resetting cellphone passwords. Users are then forced to pay for the new password to regain access to their phones.

In Google’s upcoming Android release, the operating system will no longer allow programs to change passwords. 

“With this change, there is no way for the malware to reset the lockscreen password on Android Nougat,” wrote Dinesh Venkatesan, a principal threat analysis engineer at Symantec, in a blog post announcing the change.