REDWOOD CITY, CA, June 17, 2014 – AVAST announces the release of avast! Ransomware Removal, a new free app that eliminates Android ransomware and decrypts locked and ransomed files. With the new app for Android smartphones and tablets, AVAST offers a quick and free solution to the Simplocker threat detected in early June. Simplocker is a new Android virus that encrypts photos, videos, and documents stored on smartphones and tablets, and then demands payment to decrypt them.

“Simplocker blocks access to files stored on mobile devices. Without our free ransomware-removal tool, infected users have to pay $21 to regain access to their personal files,” said Ondrej Vlcek, Chief Operating Officer at AVAST Software. “Even though we are seeing exponential growth in ransomware on mobile devices, most of the threats to encrypt personal files are fakes. Simplocker is the first ransomware that actually encrypts these files, so we developed a free tool for people to restore them.”

Anybody infected by Simplocker or any other type of ransomware can download the free avast! Ransomware Removal tool by visiting the Web version of the Google Play Store, and then installing the app remotely on their infected device. Once installed, the user can easily launch the app on the device and eliminate the threat. The tool will then scan the device, remove the virus, and decrypt the user’s files.

avast! Ransomware Removal is available for free on Google Play at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avast.android.malwareremoval

To prevent infections through ransomware and other types of malware, users can install avast! Mobile Security for free, available on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avast.android.mobilesecurity. AVAST detects Simplocker as “Android:Simplocker”.