Symantec's latest comprehensive security report revealed that 17% of Android apps (nearly one million total) are actually malware in disguise. Most identified mobile malware tried to steal users' personal data, the security firm said.
The malware gathers contact lists for sale online, triggers SMS texts to premium services or barrages users with advertisements and pop-ups.
One-third, or 2.3 million out of 6.3 million Android apps, are grayware or madware apps. While these applications do not harm a smartphone, they are mainly intrusive because they track user behavior for the primary purpose of advertisements,” Internet security expert Ali Raza an expert said in a LIFARS newsletter.
From 2013 to 2014 alone, there was a 26% increase in the number of these infections, with 317 million harmful programs created last year alone.
Cyber criminals are shifting focus increasingly toward small to mid-size businesses as more and more of these organizations are developing intellectual property.
“The mad race to deliver the next breakthrough app means smaller businesses and firms face a higher risk of being victims of cyber attackers,” Raza cautioned.
Users can avoid these malicious apps by downloading Android apps exclusively from the Google Play Store.
“Google does a good job of keeping malware out of the store,” Symantec's Director of Security Response Kevin Haley said. “And if a malicious app does make it in there, they do a good job of finding it and getting rid of it.”
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Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
