Android Malware Up 427 Percent Since July
With great popularity, comes great responsibility.
Google's Android OS has enjoyed huge amounts of success. Last week, we reported that the company had activated 200 million Android devices and was activating a further 250,000 every single day. However, it seems that those huge numbers come with another, and this one is a lot more sinister: According to Juniper Networks, Android malware has surged and is up more than 400 percent in the last few months alone.
"What happens when anyone can develop and publish an application to the Android Market?" Juniper Global Threat Center asks. "A 472% increase in Android malware samples since July 2011."
The security company goes on to blame Android's free-for-all nature that allows anyone with a developer account and $25 to post applications. Juniper just reported a 400 percent increase in May of this year when compared to summer 2010, and it looks like things haven't slowed in the slightest, with October and November representing the fastest period for growth in Android malware discovery.
"The Juniper Global Threat Center found that the months of October and November are shaping up to see the fastest growth in Android malware discovery in the history of the platform," the security company writes. "The number of malware samples identified in September increased by 28 percent over the number of the known Android malware samples. October showed a 110 percent increase in malware sample collection over the previous month and a striking 171 percent increase from what had been collected up to July 2011."
A huge surge in the volume of malicious content is bad enough, but attackers are also becoming more sophisticated in their methods. Juniper says that in the spring of this year, it began seeing Android malware that was capable of leveraging one of several platform vulnerabilities that allowed an attacker to gain root access on the device. Today, the vast majority of malware released contains this capability because "the vulnerabilities remain prevalent in nearly 90 percent of Android devices being carried around today."
The biggest issue with the Android Market is that the applications aren't vetted before they appear on Google's app store. As Juniper says, anyone with a dev account and $25 can post applications. These apps will then appear on the market with whatever description the developer submitted without ever going through any kind of verification process. The result of this is tons of malicious application, the majority of which Juniper says target personal information (55 percent), with the remainder made up of SMS trojans.
Juniper guesses that the people behind all of this Android malware are the same folks that used to write malicious code for other platforms.
"The Global Threat Center believes it's the same actors who originally wrote malicious code for the legacy platforms of Symbian and older versions Windows Mobile. They shifted to Android given it gains significant market share when compared these legacy platforms."
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Wp7 has failed............ Start Sue........
Android malware is nothing like Windows malware.
That virus that looks like Windows Explorer in your browser and then gives you an antivirus warning is about 2-3 years old now. Windows XP/Vista/7 still can't stop it. Antivirus still can't stop it. It's still a "drive by" virus, as you don't have to download and run the attachment to get the virus, you've got it as soon as you visited the site. Noscript is the only effective way to stop it on Windows. I'm sure that virus will still be viable in Windows 8/9/10, clearly that virus writer is a lot smarter than Microsoft and all of the AV companies put together.
Android malware requires you to review the rights the app is asking for, and then approve it. If you are too dumb to decline a fart soundboard that needs the ability to make phone calls and read your contacts, then you deserve what you are getting. There are still no "drive by" web viruses for Android.
That number's kind of useless.
I mean- a jump of 427% is large, but what was the original sample size?
Crapware doesn't know what he's talking about. If you get viruses, and especially if you can't fix them, it means you need an education or to know someone who has one in that area.
42, I believe.
HELL YESS!!!! TAKE THAT ANDROID iOS will regain its marketshare REALLY soon!!!!!!
going from 1 case of malware, to 5 cases is a 500% increase in malware.
I am assuming 1 case since they failed to include the original sample size.
I've never understood how people can get malware on their phones. Is it that hard to not download shitty apps?
HELL YESS!!!! TAKE THAT ANDROID iOS will regain its marketshare REALLY soon!!!!!!
this guys a little weird..
I've never understood how people can get malware on their phones. Is it that hard to not download shitty apps?
http://www.explosm.net/comics/2616/
If the app promising to show you the boobs of asian models asks for rights to connect to the internet and access your contacts, you should probably pass on downloading it.
This is not rocket science. No app can do anything you do not give it permission to do!
It's funny how all of these "Android Malware" articles pop-up just before the release of the most anticipated Android phone to date. Haters are going to Hate.
Thank you crapware. That was pretty much my assessment as well. I manage Windows computers at work but primarily use Linux for my own needs and my family uses a combo of Mac (wife) and Linux (kids). Our WinXp machine is ONLY for games offline. It isn't allowed out on the web - especially used by a child. This method has kept our computers virus free for years now.
At work the computers I manage stay virus free but I limit what people can do and I provide alternatives to Outlook and Internet Explorer. So far, so good. It is a rare day when I have to work on a virus on those computers. I help coworkers and clients with their personal virus ridden computers as well. It's amazing what some people will click on. If it looks official and says there is a problem, a good number of them will click on it. Fortunately our key personnel have learned to call before they click and if they can't find me - save their docs and reboot.
That's the price of admission. Let them enjoy the party. You've never seen anyone drunk at a party before?
lol.....the google reign is over
Well guess what. No one approves what software I can install on my PC either. Actually, G does a pretty good job by telling you what permissions an app needs to run. PC software doesn't even do that. I'll happily take my chances with Android. The app selections are so much better than iOS. Of course, if you need someone to hold your hand, then I suppose iOS is better for you...
Look at who is doing the freakin study....Juniper Networks. They are a security firm who has a an app available with their "affiliates" on the Android store. Of course their study is going to want to scare the crap out of Android users...it's good business.
Thank you crapware. That was pretty much my assessment as well. I manage Windows computers at work but primarily use Linux for my own needs and my family uses a combo of Mac (wife) and Linux (kids). Our WinXp machine is ONLY for games offline. It isn't allowed out on the web - especially used by a child. This method has kept our computers virus free for years now.
I went a different way, I have told my family what to look out for and when not to open things. I explained what may be dangerous and when to just close things and go away from a site, that along with Firefox and AdBlocker has kept the computers of my computer illiterate family clean for years, that includes my 10 year old nephew computer which is connected to the internet. You make it seem like just being on the net will infest a Windows computer with viruses, which is not true, it takes someone doing something STUPID to get viruses, most of those fake virus alert viruses actually have a popup you have to click YES to in order to install and most people will click yes cause no one has explained what to look out for, kind of like you didn't explain BTW. All you did was create more ignorant computer users who will fall victim to viruses once they stop using any system you locked down for them.
Yea they use Linux I saw that, but I can guarantee they will end up using a Windows PC eventually and your fear lack of teaching there will get them in trouble, remember ignorance is not protection. Teach them hot to avoid things like that and it won't happen.
iOS is still on top because of the way they screen apps, and their user base will only grow. I came across the site www.iphonedevreviews.com that helps you get your apps out on the app store even without programming. Got 3 apps out in the last month
.
HELL YESS!!!! TAKE THAT ANDROID iOS will regain its marketshare REALLY soon!!!!!!
Dude...it's just a phone OS, you make it sound like you are rooting for your favourite sports team.
IOS is for PC illiterate wanna be geeks that need helping hand to use the device. Average user's are 14 year old girls and morons
Android is for computer literate people that need more features then the average moron
Windows phone is people scared of the new and like being told how to use their device
frzen must be a liberal. All they know how to do is provide anonymous slander rather than thoughtful intelligent comments.
yep, 427% from what: sure sign of biased 'journalism' trying to use partial data in a manipulative way...
I would just forget the handful of obvious unnecessary apps out there requesting access to private data
Let's start with Google and Market in the first place:
phones come preloaded with apps and games that are either not useful for
most (like games that come with it, or apps where way better ones are available
on Market), and, here is the thing: cannot be removed!
common to all these: collecting an excessive set of privacy data
excessive in the sense of not necessary for the function of the program itself
now, marketing firms want to get a grip on this nice data source that the phone owner
cannot defend against
looking at 'Twidroid', it is an 'OK' app for twitter, but
1) there are better ones on Market
2) who needs that when I can go to twitter.com directly using the browser and have the full feature set available "from the hose's mouth"
that app already requests privacy data
comes a clever marketing firm Über something:
buys that precious data source
here comes the hammer:
wants to 'update' to their 'new' version which requests way more invasive
access to privacy data than the original (that was the mo for the move!)
the android owner cannot remove this thing
the Über-guys want of course to update the existing old one on the phones
with theirs, so they get the additional data from all phones, that's the reason for the investment in the first place
user does notices the additional privs and does not update
user sets auto-update to 'no' (box unchecked)
oh, surprise, over night the thing did update!
what, the auto update box did check itself!
remove update (too late, the data has already been captured...)
set to auto-update off
same old
Forget the handful of obviously useless examples of crapware who's only goal is to collect phone user's data
Google themselves, through lucrative agreements, is the biggest violater
- force feeding collecting apps
- equipping apps with overrides of user's wishes (resetting the auto update to 'on' so over night while nobody seems to be watching the app updates and collects the precious set of confirmed data)
As long as there are apps that come with a phone that cannot be removed,
making an exception of course of the SW that is necessary to operate the
phone on the provider's network,
there is not protection of privacy!
Let's start with the biggest malware and spyware criminals first, who force feed spyware to 250+ Million phones
then maybe talk about some idiots who want to get on the bandwagon exploiting dumb or greedy people...
Mike N
Just goes to show how dumb these ifan trolls are. There is malware on the iphone as well. There have been numerous articles about Apple patching iOS because of similar issues. NicoleFox - Android is currently on top - iOS slid 2 percentage points in the last quarter. Your cheerleading isn't changing anything.
Recent Dolphin HD "news", cough, affected both iOS & Android, cough... (on the contrary to what many pathetic journalists "thought")
http://blog.dolphin-browser.com/20 [...] user-data/
iOS is still on top because...
Because, cough, you are from, cough, outer space...
On planet Earth Android vs iOS is 3 vs 1 and gap is only widening.
Be very afraid. Buy their software. Be very afraid. Buy their software.
Nah.... No thanks.
just today I wanted to download an app that tells me the bus times, but it wanted permission to view my phone number, phone calls, phone ID. So I passed, and wrote the developer a little e-mail. Let's see what he answers.
just today I wanted to download an app that tells me the bus times, but it wanted permission to view my phone number, phone calls, phone ID. So I passed, and wrote the developer a little e-mail. Let's see what he answers.
Likely so the app can stop and tell you you're getting a phone call. But emailing him was a great idea if you don't understand why an app needs permissions.
Now if the rest of the world would stop and think like you did, there would be a lot less infected electronic devices in the world. among other things.
Well it goes to show when something gets really popular they develop ways to hurt it. This is true for Windows and now its starting for Macs. The only reason Linux is safe from most exploits is because no one wants to develop a virus for an operating system only 1% of the population uses.
[citation]The only reason Linux is safe from most exploits is because no one wants to develop a virus for an operating system only 1% of the population uses.[/citation]
And because most Linux users have a clue...