Removing Android ransomware from my tv

In July, you may have read how I unwittingly installed Android ransomware to my HiMedia HD600a HD Media player.

Well I wasn’t going to just toss out my device, I wanted it back, so I worked on getting rid of the ransomware.

Timing is everything

I have to say, it was very tricky to remove this ransomware from my IPTV media player. If this happened to my cell phone or other Android device, I could plug it into a computer via USB connection and use it as an external storage device, then browse the device and manually delete the recently installed files.

I realized that when I pressed “Home” on my remote control, the TV responded by switching the screen to the main menu, but after 8 or 9 seconds, the screen reverted to the ransomware alert once again. So my window of opportunity was 8 or 9 seconds. To remove the ransomware, I would need to navigate to the main menu, and find the solution to removing a recently installed app.

Once at the home screen or main menu, I navigated to the Application Manager, located the icon of the ransomware, and uninstalled it. Due to the ransomware taking control after 8 or 9 seconds, I found I needed to try and try again. Eventually I was able to kill the beast!

Alternative Solutions

If your device has a USB connection, it is likely that by connecting it to a computer, the device will be visible as an external storage device. In theory you could browse it and remove the ransomware manually. I located a reference tip on how to remove Android apps from various types of devices, you may find this useful:

http://google.about.com/od/androidappscat/a/How-To-Delete-Android-Apps-From-Your-Phone-Or-Tablet.htm

It is also possible to use a utility such as Android Debug Bridge (ADB). Once your device is connected, you would issue the command line instruction “adb uninstall APPNAME”, where APPNAME is the app name.

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