Android continues to be a key target for mobile malware

Shawn Knight

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Staff member

A new report from web security provider Blue Coat Systems reveals that Google’s Android platform is quickly becoming a key target for mobile cyber attacks. These cyber criminals are fine-tuning their abilities to compromise the OS’ wide range of flavors, making it more difficult for corporate IT departments to keep pace with the ever-evolving platform.

Over the past six months, the company said they blocked a growing number of unique malicious Android applications including a root exploit and various rogue software. We are told that 40 percent of malware was delivered via malnets, described as distributed infrastructures within the Internet built and maintained for the purpose of distributing malware. The company was just off their mark as they predicted that nearly two-thirds of all new attacks would come from malnets in 2012.

android malware

The company also outlined the top threat vectors for mobile users. According to a statement from Blue Coat, porn sites were the most dangerous web destination for those surfing from a handheld. The good news, however, is that people visit porn sites on their mobile device less than one percent of the time.

It’s rather interesting when you consider the fact that porn websites were one of the top sources for malware when it first hit the Internet. That threat for desktop users has since declined significantly as attackers have moved to other outlets to spread malicious code. Targets like search engines and social networks offer more potential victims.

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GEE I WONDER WHY. Andoid phones are just terrible. They're great for customization or app development because they allow an app to access just about everything and do just about anything... but that requires quite a bit of processing power and can consume a lot of resources.

That's for full desktop operating systems, not phones. Either way, I'm sticking to my nice safe Windows Phone which doesn't let things go about all willy nilly.
 
GEE I WONDER WHY. Andoid phones are just terrible. They're great for customization or app development because they allow an app to access just about everything and do just about anything... but that requires quite a bit of processing power and can consume a lot of resources.

That's for full desktop operating systems, not phones. Either way, I'm sticking to my nice safe Windows Phone which doesn't let things go about all willy nilly.

I disagree with you. The more android phones become widely available the more it will undergo malaware attacks. Your windows phone is only 1% percent of the market. Investing time and resources for your phone is not even worth it.

Same situation with windows. People claim that windows is riddle with virus attacks when compared to apple. But people don't realize that windows is 90% of the market.
 
GEE I WONDER WHY. Andoid phones are just terrible. They're great for customization or app development because they allow an app to access just about everything and do just about anything... but that requires quite a bit of processing power and can consume a lot of resources.

That's for full desktop operating systems, not phones. Either way, I'm sticking to my nice safe Windows Phone which doesn't let things go about all willy nilly.

I disagree with you. The more android phones become widely available the more it will undergo malaware attacks. Your windows phone is only 1% percent of the market. Investing time and resources for your phone is not even worth it.


Same situation with windows. People claim that windows is riddle with virus attacks when compared to apple. But people don't realize that windows is 90% of the market.


While that is true, I'll have to disagree with you there. Although Windows Phone has a small marketshare, it still has an extremely secure operating system. Unlike Android, apps that are executed in the Windows Phone operating system are "sandboxed". Which means they are only allowed access services that the operating system ALLOWS. Malicious applications are POSSIBLE, yes, but they can do a SIGNIFICANTLY less amount of damage or none at all.
 
Android phones are better to use, Windows phones just not there yet.. But everyone going to have their favorite smart phone to use. With 45 Android tablets since 2010 and over 10 smartphones base on Android this is where I going for now. Windows yes for desktops, netbooks, laptops, tablets, but the smartphone market still not ready for me yet..
 
GEE I WONDER WHY. Andoid phones are just terrible. They're great for customization or app development because they allow an app to access just about everything and do just about anything... but that requires quite a bit of processing power and can consume a lot of resources.

That's for full desktop operating systems, not phones. Either way, I'm sticking to my nice safe Windows Phone which doesn't let things go about all willy nilly.

Littleczr knows what he's talking about. It's the same reason malware stepped up on OSX when Apple's market share started going up. Sure, applications can access more parts of the OS, but you choose what applications to install. Just because an app has more permissions doesn't necessarily mean it consumes more resources.
 
GEE I WONDER WHY. Andoid phones are just terrible. They're great for customization or app development because they allow an app to access just about everything and do just about anything... but that requires quite a bit of processing power and can consume a lot of resources.

That's for full desktop operating systems, not phones. Either way, I'm sticking to my nice safe Windows Phone which doesn't let things go about all willy nilly.

Yay, more overused and lame security comments...

The Windows Phone OS is fast, looks good, and has some great social networking integration, but the OS is "safe", because no one is using it. Same reason Blackberry OS is safe, same reason Linux (on the desktop) is safe, same reason Mac OS is safe...
 
I am more interested in how an android actually get infected. Does the user has to install some malicious app from market or apk, that requires excessive permissions? Or just by visiting a malicious website? I know there are many malicious apps in the market, but if a user is careful and conservative, it's not hard to avoid those apps. However, if it's a driven-by attack, it will be much harder to defend.
 
I agree that Windows 8 on the phone has a small share - Threats are bound to increase with time. Let's just hope you'll be able to get some security software for Windows Phone 8 soon...damned if I can find any!
 
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