Cybercrime is getting more sophisticated each day as attackers are developing more sophisticated malware. Mobile phones running on the Android operating system were once thought of as almost impenetrable. Web security company Blue Coat, in its 2013 Mobile Malware Report, said that may not be case much longer.
Android is a Linux based OS and there have been reports of Linux malware, but not that widespread. As more Android devices are activated each day, an estimate of 1.3 million per day, it's likely that the number of malware reports will increase.
Blue Coat notes that most of the mobile threats circulating are based on personal information theft and pay texting scams. As on PC, phishing scams and spam are the most successful forms of mobile malware. The classic Paypal phishing attack has made its way to mobile devices. In this popular scam, a user will receive an email from what appears to be Paypal to verify account information. Most times users think that it's safe and will click the link to verify their username and password. Little do they know that the link that they have chosen actually belong to scammers who now have their login information.
In 2012, the top malware threat according to the report was pornography, although users visited these sites less than 1 percent of the time. When a user visited a malicious site, 20 percent of the time, they were navigating from a pornography site.
The second most dangerous threat was categorized as "suspicious" and included internet apps that were part of normal daily Android use. In some instances, mobile malware will attack mobile versions of apps like Opera or Skype. These attacks are becoming more successful as users spend more time on the Web, accessing computers and internet content. It's estimated that the average individual spends 72 minutes a day browsing the web from their mobile devices.
To keep mobile devices safe and combat malicious threats and vulnerabilites, many developers offer apps that detect and remove malware. Mobile apps like AVG Free Antivirus Security and Avira Free Android Security provide the same protection as they do on a PC.
