Tag: mobile security threats

Geography has been found to play a considerable role in the type of issues faced by smartphone owners.

According to the latest report that has been issued by mobile security company, Lookout, threats seem to appear and linger in based on geographical factors, meaning that the types of malware and other dangerous problems that could lead to smartphone and tablet based issues differ from one place to another.

This report was considered to be the first of its kind and used threat data gleaned from the Lookout Platform.

The mobile security report took a deep look into the treats from five different countries and identified that the key issues are different from one area to the next. The five countries that were examined were: Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and India.

The report also pointed out that mobile security threats are continually and rapidly evolving.

According to Lookout, within the report, “As mobile marches on, the threat landscape continues to evolve. Like any entrepreneur, the bad guys go where the opportunity exists and focus on the business models that are most successful – and like many businesses, there are differences that can be seen at the country level based on economics of a given region.”

At the same time that the report was issued, Lookout also released an infographic to underscore the largest threats in mobile security, based on location. The types of threat that were analyzed included adware, chargeware, spyware, surveillance, and Trojans. In all countries, it was adware that dominated the detections in each of the countries, as a result of the lack of solid guidelines to outline what is and is not acceptable for smartphone advertising, and because unscrupulous methods are proving to generate greater payouts.

Surveillance was found to be a popular form of mobile security threat in the United States, after marketers that use it have identified a quasi-legal position in which to apply it. As the barrier to entry is lower in this market, it gives developers the opportunity to target a wider audience. Similarly, Germany had the largest instance of Trojans and the United Kingdom saw the largest occurrence of chargeware. The number of threats in Japan were comparatively small next to the other countries in the report. India, on the other hand, saw a relatively high adware instance.

Trend Micro releases new mobile security report

Trend Micro, a leading Internet security firm, has released a new study concerning the state of mobile security. Security has become a very significant issue in the mobile space and continues to grow more serious as more consumers purchase smartphones and tablets. The advent of mobile technology has helped changed the Internet and how people connect through digital mediums. Mobile devices today store information that is considered valuable to hackers and other groups that would be interested in exploiting this information for some gain.

Report highlights security threats linked to world events

According to Trend Micro’s latest report, called “Trend Micro Q1 2013,” major events unfolding around the world have sparked an increase in the number of spammers that have been showing up online. Malicious groups are forming parties that are vaguely associated with these events in order to ensnare consumers that are interested in what is happening around the world. The report notes that the attention that Google Glass, Google’s augmented reality eyewear, has been receiving recently in one of the events that has spawned new scamming attempts, putting strain on mobile security around the world.

Fake mobile games and applications target consumers

The study also found that fake mobile games are becoming a major issue for consumers. Gaming applications are typically distributed through services such as Google Play and the Apple App Store. These platforms have their own ways to ensure the safety of the applications they distribute, but the developers associated with these platforms typically only have to receive their distribution license once and are able to upload to these platforms freely once they become “trusted.” Some hacking groups have begun to pay developers to upload their malicious application, essentially circumventing the security measures that distribution platforms have in place.

Mobile security continues to demand attention

Mobile security continues to be a serious issue that is not often taken very seriously. Trend Micro suggests a large portion of the Android mobile devices that are in service today have been affected by mobile security threats in some form. Understanding these mobile security threats could be the first step in adequately defending mobile devices from the risks they face in the digital world.