Susceptibility to Malignant Code
Malicious code is reportedly infecting Android devices at a rapid speed. Therefore, Android phone users are advised to take extra precautions.
On April 4, US-based network security company Fortinet announced the findings of its report about last year’s malware trends. The majority of exponentially-increasing mobile malware was found on the Android platform.
According to the report, 2013 was the year of mobile malware. In particular, 96.5 percent of all mobile malware tracked in 2013 was Android based. Symbian, which is Nokia OS, is a distant second at 3.45 percent, while iOS, BlackBerry, PalmOS, and Windows together represent 0.05 percent. Hence, non-Android platforms were much less vulnerable than Android OS.
A piece of malicious code called NewyearL.B was the prime example of Android malware, which infected millions of Android devices last year by hiding inside flashlight apps.
“The rapid growth of malware targeting Android continues to be of concern to system administrators who have implemented a mobile device strategy on their networks,” explained Axelle Apvrille, senior mobile anti-virus researcher with Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs. He added, “FortiGuard Labs detected over 1,800 new distinct families of viruses in the past year, and the majority of those are targeting Google’s Android platform.”
He concluded by saying, “Looking at the growth of Android malware, we can see that there is much to be concerned about in 2014. The growth shows no signs of slowing; in fact, the growth seems to be accelerating. As more Android-based devices are purchased and taken online, the opportunities for attackers to infect increases as well.”