Microsoft offers free Windows phones to Android malware victims

Graham cluley
Graham Cluley
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Want a free Windows Phone? Well, it turns out that you may be able to get one for free – all you need to do is tell Microsoft about the malware problems you’ve had with Android smartphones.

Yes, that’s right. Microsoft’s latest social media marketing initiative is not to focus on the benefits of a Windows Phone device but instead – in a somewhat below-the-belt punch – invite Android users to share their stories of malware woe.

Ben Rudolph, Microsoft’s Windows Phone “evangelist”, is the brainbox behind the scheme which has adopted the hashtag “#droidrage” on Twitter. Linking followers to current news articles about Android malware, Rudolph says he will give an “upgrade” to a Windows Phone to the “5 best (worst?)” stories about being hit by Android malware.

https://twitter.com/TreSupreme/status/146465162835148800

As a marketing ploy, it’s rather transparent. But you can’t deny that Microsoft has managed to find a cost-effective way to get disgruntled Android users to describe their struggles with malware, just as news broke of hackers cloning Android games such as “Cut the Rope” and “Angry Birds” to deliver malicious payloads.

I guess it must be kind of thrilling for Microsoft…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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