Android malware increasing in Q2
Malware and viruses on Android devices are no longer a surprise. However, the latest report from Russia-based security firm Kaspersky Labs is alarming.
What You Need To Know:
- According to the Kaspersky report, around 14,900 new malicious programs are targeting Android in Q2 of 2012. The figure almost trebled the numbers from the previous quarter.
- The report reveals that about 49 percent of these malicious programs are multifunctional Trojans that steal data from phones such as contact information and email addresses.
- More dangerous programs referred to as “backdoors” make up 18 percent of all Android threats detected. These programs could take control of an infected device.
- Finnish security firm F-Secure sees differently. On its latest report, the company has found only 40 new malicious files in Q2, but it is still a 64 percent rise from the previous quarter.
- The huge difference of the results is due to how the two companies define “unique samples”.
This is not to say that even F-Secure’s mere 64 percent increase isn’t worth worrying about, of course.
However, it’s clearly worth considering the methods behind the numbers a little more carefully as well. It’s all too easy to seize upon alarmist figures when writing reports and headlines, but those numbers don’t mean much without a clear understanding of the data itself.
~ Katherine Noyes, PCWorld
Sources:
Has Android Malware Tripled in Recent Months? Not So Fast
PCWorld
Kaspersky: Number of malicious Android apps tripled in Q2 2012
Android Authority
