Steve Evans
Published 02 March 2012
Russian security giant sees huge spike in malware aimed at the mobile OS during first two weeks of 2012
Android malware is rising at an alarming rate, according to security firm Kaspersky Lab. The Russian company says the early weeks of 2012 saw a huge rise in the number of malware detected compared to the end of 2011.
The company said that during December 2011, it saw 82,000 variations in Android malware. However during just the first two weeks of January 2012, that figure shot up to a huge 360,000.
There have been plenty of worrying headlines about mobile malware over the last 18 months or so, but most experts within the security industry have claimed that the real threat is still very limited at this time.
In fact, CEO Eugene Kaspersky told CBR at last year’s InfoSec conference that the threat to Android and other mobile platforms was, “growing but it’s not visible yet compared to Windows. Cyber criminals are humans; they are lazy. It takes time to migrate, but technically it is possible.”
Late last year Google had to launch a clean-up operation after a number of rogue apps infiltrated its Android Market. The malicious apps tricked users into signing up for expensive text messaging services.
Kaspersky says this approach is one of the most common forms of Android Malware; sending large volumes of text messages to premium rate numbers not only drains the user’s account but also lines the pocked of the cyber crook.
A report from Lookout Mobile Security and its Mobile Threat Network last year revealed that scams such as this had resulted in as much as $1m being stolen from Android users. The report indicated that 2012 would see more threats like this, and Kaspersky’s findings suggest the same.
For more on this subject, check out these links:
Top five mobile security tools
‘Security doesn’t stop cyber crime’: QA with Eugene Kaspersky, Kaspersky Lab
Google cleans up malicious Android Market apps
Hackers putting UK companies out of business
Dodgy apps steal $1m from Android users: report
Kaspersky introduces new Tablet Security offering
CBR also carried out a podcast interview with founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, Eugene Kaspersky, which you can hear here.
Article source: http://www.cbronline.com/blogs/cbr-rolling-blog/android-malware-skyrockets-kaspersky-lab-020312
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