A new Android attack combines malware and ransomware in a cocktail of cybercrime
Security researchers at Zimperium have identified a new Android malware strain called Mantax Otax that uniquely combines infostealer, remote access trojan, backdoor, and ransomware capabilities. The malware is distributed via third-party app stores, social media, and phishing, primarily targeting users of older Android versions 9 and below. On newer devices running Android 10 or later, the malware's effectiveness is significantly reduced by native operating system security features like Scoped Storage.
- ▪Mantax Otax is a hybrid malware that steals data, enables remote monitoring, and encrypts files using AES to demand a ransom.
- ▪The threat is believed to be developed by an Indonesian actor and is distributed through APKs on third-party stores, Telegram, and phishing emails.
- ▪Android versions 9 and older are most vulnerable because they lack the Scoped Storage restrictions that limit file access on newer systems.
- ▪The malware is not present on official repositories such as the Google Play Store or Samsung's Galaxy Store.
- ▪Zimperium's Mobile Threat Defense and zDefend software provide additional protection against this specific threat.
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| Original publisher | TechRadar |
| Canonical URL | https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/a-new-android-attack-combines-malware-and-ransomware-in-a-cocktail-of-cybercrime |
| Publication time | Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:05:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-11T13:14:16.473Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-11T13:14:25.658Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | PHevadBYszhA · 1 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Pro Security A new Android attack combines malware and ransomware in a cocktail of cybercrime News By Sead Fadilpašić Published 11 September 2026 Unique malware variant spotted targeting Android users When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Shutterstock / tomeqs) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Zimperium uncovers Mantax Otax, Android malware merging infostealer, RAT, backdoor, and ransomwareDistributed via APKs on third‑party stores, social media, and phishing; older Android versions most at riskSteals extensive data, enables remote monitoring,…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at TechRadar.
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