Simon Bell, a university student, claims to have discovered a Java application to decrypt the first ransomware to hit Android devices.

Analysts at Eset first found the ransomware, Simplelocker, on June 7th. It encrypted via AES large swathes of files on Android device SD cards demanding users pay a paltry 260 Ukrainian hryvnias (£13) for the data to be decrypted.

In a technical blog, Bell detailed how he reversed Simplocker and would develop an app to pluck the decryption keys stored within.

"This dissection shows how the app encrypts user's files and that information about the phone is sent to a C&C (command and control) server on the TOR network," Bell writes.

"But one important question remains unanswered: would it be possible to decrypt files that have been encrypted by the app without connecting to the C&C server? In other words: can we reverse the damage done by this app?"

His next blog will publish the crypto-cracking app allowing besieged Europeans to free their devices without shelling out to the criminals.