Android accounted for 79% of All Mobile Malware in 2012 – 96% in Q4
According to a report out today from security specialists F-Secure, Android accounted for 79% of all malware in 2012, up from 66.7% in 2011 and only 11.25% in 2010. When it comes to Apple’s iOS on the other hand, it remains one of the least compromised, with just 0.7%.
Symbian, (whose market share is basically going off a cliff) is being left for dead by its former parent Nokia, down to 19% of all malware, compared to 62.5% two years ago (probably because hackers don’t think it’s worth their time anymore). Meanwhile, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and J2ME each accounted for less than 1% of threat families in circulation in the year.
Taking a look at the chart below we can see that, Android’s malware record appears to have seen a particularly high jump in Q4 2012 (up to 96%).
Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure Labs went on to write,
“Malware in general has a parasitic relationship with its host,”
“As old Symbian handsets continue to be replaced by those with other operating systems, especially Android, Symbian malware dies off and will probably go extinct in 2013.”
In terms of what forms malware is taking, F-Secure says that 66% of detections were Trojans (malware disguised as something else). F-Secure believes that Google’s increased security prompts, which it introduced with the 4.2 variant (Jelly Bean), should help bring that number down. Although, if you look at Google’s most recent stats on distribution, released this week, Android 4.2 is only at 1.6% — meaning that this make take some time to come to pass.
F-Secure also noted that those releasing malware have become more sophisticated in their reasons for infiltrating devices. In lamens terms, they’re doing it for more than “just the heck of it” with a significant shift in terms of malware attacks becoming financially motivated over the last several years, financial gains now well outweigh those attacks that have been made in the past.
Kevin is an Online and Mobile Marketing Strategist who has worked with companies of all sizes over the last 6 years. You can follow Kevin on any of the social platforms below.
