Android's (Ongoing) Malware Issue
The growth of mobile malware is soaring, according to a new study from Juniper Networks. Malware threats have risen 614 percent in a single year to roughly 276,000 malicious apps. The vast majority of these apps -- 92 percent -- are targeted at Android users. In 2010, only 24 percent of mobile malware was aimed at Android.
"[I]t is clear from developments in the threat landscape that malware writers are increasingly behaving like provit-motivated businesses when designing new attacks and malware distribution strategies," Juniper wrote. Android is a tempting target both because of its huge install base and because third party apps are "loosely regulated."
Another Android weakness, according to Juniper, is the operating system's fragmentation which keeps the "vast majority of devices from receiving new security measures provided by Google." Just four percent of Android phone users were using the latest version of the OS which is robust enough to combat 77 percent of Android malware threats, according to Juniper.
This isn't the first report that has singled out Android for issues. Yesterday, we highlighted a report from Lookout which found a rise in adware in the Google Play store. In May, F-Secure Labs noted that 91 percent of all the mobile malware it had discovered was geared toward the Android platform.
See also: Adware, Android's Quiet Menace.