Explosion of Android threats
Kaspersky Lab released its annual Kaspersky Security Bulletin recently, revealing that 99% of all mobile malware detected in 2012 was designed for the Android platform.
During 2011, Kaspersky Lab witnessed an explosion in the number of malicious threats targeting the Android platform.
The company predicted that the number of threats for Android will continue to grow at an alarming rate, and this prediction proved to be prophetic.
The number of samples Kaspersky Lab received continued to grow and peaked in June 2012, when they identified almost 7,000 malicious Android programs.
“Overall, in 2012, we identified more than 35,000 malicious Android programs, which is about six times more than in 2011. That’s also about five times more than all the malicious Android samples we’ve received since 2005 altogether,” said Kaspersky Lab.
According to Kaspersky Lab the reason for the huge growth of Android can be explained by two factors: economic and platform related.
- The Android platform itself has become incredibly popular, becoming the most widespread OS for new phones, with over 70% market share.
- The open nature of the operating system, the ease with which apps can be created and the wide variety of (unofficial) application markets have combined to shine a negative spotlight on the security posture of the Android platform.
The growth of Android Malware
“Looking forward, there is no doubt this trend will continue, just like it did with Windows malware many years ago. We are therefore expecting 2013 to be filled with targeted attacks against Android users, zero-days and data leaks,” said Kaspersky Lab.
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