Mobile malware threats growing at 614 per cent, Android OS at greatest risk

Even as smartphones continue to grow at exponential rates of around 60 per cent, the third annual Mobile Threats Report released by Juniper Networks has revealed that mobile malware threats were growing at an even greater rate of 614 per cent.

In fact, the study by Juniper Networks Mobile Threat Center found 276,259 malicious apps aimed at exploiting mobile devices.

The report said "malware writers are increasingly behaving like profit-motivated businesses when designing new attacks and malware distribution strategies".

Not surprisingly, as many as 92 per cent of threats were targeted at Android, which is now the most popular operating system on smartphones accounting for 67.7 per cent of all shipments in 2012, as per research firm Canalys.

Third-party app marketplaces are also becoming popular among cyber criminals to inject their malware into devices.

The report identified more than 500 low-security third-party Android application stores worldwide, about 60 per cent of them based either in China or Russia. Thankfully, the study identified India as among the least vulnerable to third-party marketplaces.

One of the main reasons for the vulnerability of Android is the high level of fragmentation of the operating systes.

Google says only 4 per cent users have the latest version of the software which has many inbuilt feature to protect devices from known malware. In comparison, as much as 96 per cent Apple users are on the latest iOS 6 operating system.

Another threat that has come to light is the fact that attackers are investing in R&D to find chinks in enterprise solutions, especially since the concept of BYOD (bring your own device) is gaining ground among companies around world.

Incidentally, the 2013 Global Corporate IT Security Risks survey conducted by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab says large companies incur an average loss of $649,000 in the wake of a cyber-attack. B2B calculated the figure based on incidents that had occurred in the past 12 months.