Android Malware Infections Tripled In 2012

The smartphone used to be a safe environment to develop for, especially in its early days when there was no such thing as malware or viruses, or other kinds of malicious code. Well, times have definitely changed over the years, where the explosive growth of smartphones have led to numerous “backdoors” being discovered in mobile operating systems, and it seems that there is a concentrated effort in developing malicious software for the Android platform in this season.

Mobile security vendor NQ mentioned that the total number of reported Android devices infected with malware grew from 10.8 million in 2011 to 32.8 million in 2012, while would translate to a 300% increase year-over-year, with nearly 95% of malware detected in 2012 being limited to the Android platform, which means that Google’s mobile operating system is almost the de facto target for potential cybercriminals. Interestingly enough, majority of the mobile malware infections reported happened in China, India and Russia. You know what to do to stay safe – download only apps that are certified and from official sources.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: Android, Malware