Security company Kaspersky Labs has informed its audience that it has seen an almost threefold increase in the number of new malicious apps in its databases during Q2 2012.
In Q1, the newly-discovered malware apps were about 5,441, while the second quarter brought 14,923 more - a dramatic increase over previous periods. Kaspersky explains these numbers with the growing interest in mobile devices, as well as the enormous market share that Android has.
Apparently, most of these malicious apps (about 49%) happen to be multi-functional Trojans, designed to steal various kinds of information like contacts, email addresses, and phone numbers. About 25% of the discovered malware is categorized as SMS Trojans, which are those apps that can secretly send SMS messages to premium numbers, without you even knowing.
Meanwhile, a significantly smaller part (18%) are those apps which aim to take full control over the user's phone... scary stuff indeed! Finally, the most dangerous malware, according to Kaspersky - the Trojan Spy, was discovered in about 2% of the new malicious software. The Trojan Spy's goal is to provide bank account access to its maker. Geez, sounds like a good reason to for us to pay extra attention to the apps we're downloading!
Rad Slavov is the Editor-in-Chief at PhoneArena. He joined the media in 2008, right on the cusp of the modern smartphone revolution. Through time and perseverance, he amassed a great deal of knowledge and industry know-how, allowing him to guide and organize the company's growing line-up of talented content creators and ever-expanding content portfolio.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: