According to the recent study, the attacks on smartphones with this operating systems are rapidly rising.
NQ Mobile security solutions company has just released a report that has shown that the number of malware attacks that are occurring on devices that are based on the Android operating system significantly increased in 2012.
The report was issued on Monday and underlined the importance of smartphone protections against attacks.
The report drew attention to the fact that as the operating system becomes increasingly popular, so do the attempts to infect it from those with unethical intentions. It urged consumers using smartphones to become aware of the risks of using mobile security devices and to alter their behaviors in order to protect themselves against attacks.
The mobile security report showed that the popularity of Android does make it a malware target.
As a whole, the number of mobile security attacks that were recorded on Android smartphones were recorded to have doubled from 2011 to 2012. According to the authors of the report, this has made these devices among the most profitable cybercriminal trends. Last year the most commonly used techniques of this nature were phishing and smishing, which are those that are used in an attempt to gain use of the personal and/or financial information of the users.
Among the primary mobile security results that were noted by the report include:
• An increase of 163 percent in the instance of malware, as 65,227 new malware pieces were discovered last year, when compared to 24,794 which were discovered the year before.
• A specific target of malware of 94.8 percent toward Android devices last year. Comparatively, only 4 percent of these harmful attacks were geared specifically toward Symbian based devices.
• Of all of the mobile security malware that was discovered last year, 28 percent had been designed for the specific intention of obtaining personal and financial data from users for the purpose of profit for the attacker.
This mobile security report has supported the results of other studies that are revealing that there is a rapidly growing trend of malware issues on smartphones, as their popularity continues to grow worldwide.
Android facing mounting mobile security threats
The Android platform is being aggressively targeted by hackers from all over the world, causing major mobile security concerns for thousands upon thousands of consumers. More than 350,000 unique malware applications were recently discovered on Google Play, many of which were downloaded by a massive number of consumers. Mobile security is quickly becoming a very important subject for Android users, and Trend Micro, a leading Internet security firm, has launched a new update to its mobile security suite, providing more protection to consumers.
Mobile Security 3.0 launched by Trend Micro
Trend Micro has launched Mobile Security 3.0, a security application specifically designed for the Android platform. The application boasts of several features that aim to keep a consumer as safe as possible. One such feature is the application’s ability to scan other applications for malicious content. Any such content detected by the application can be quarantined so that it does not infect the rest of a user’s mobile device. The application also allows users to backup their important information on a cloud network, keeping it safe from those that would exploit such information. This data can be retrieved easily when necessary.
New security application allows users to wipe their mobile devices remotely
Malicious applications are not the only threat in mobile security. Smartphones and tablets are very popular targets for theft and many people often have their mobile devices snatched from their hands while in public. Mobile Security 3.0 accounts for these threats by giving consumers the ability to remove all data from their mobile device remotely, rendering stolen smartphones and tablets virtually useless in terms of information exploitation and identity theft.
Application includes privacy scanner for social media
Unlike some other mobile security application, the latest offering from Trend Micro also provide users with a privacy scanner for social networking. This scanning can identify any privacy risks that may exist in a person’s Facebook account and recommend settings that can keep a user’s information secure. The Mobile Security 3.0 application is available for approximately $30 on Google Play, but a free trial version of the application is also available to Android users.
