Malicious Android Apps To Top 1 Million By Years' End
As the prevalence of the Android OS grows, so grows a commensurate vector for malicious attacks from malware. Apparently, the number of malicious apps is growing, too.
According to a study released by security software maker Trend Micro, the number of malicious and high-risk Android apps has jumped to about 718,000--which is more startling when you realize that the same group reported that there were 509,000 just last quarter. Trend Micro predicts that there will be over a million such apps by the end of the year.
Trend Micro says that it took the PC industry about ten years to hit that mark.
This jibes with other recent reports about Android and the malware threat, including an exploit that bypasses a digital signature check, the fact that 92% of the mobile market’s malware is for Android, and that over a million Android users downloaded adware in the past year.
We always bring our salt shakers with us when a company that makes security products tells us that we need to buy security products, but it certainly seems that malware and security are growing problems on the Android platform.
According to a study released by security software maker Trend Micro, the number of malicious and high-risk Android apps has jumped to about 718,000--which is more startling when you realize that the same group reported that there were 509,000 just last quarter. Trend Micro predicts that there will be over a million such apps by the end of the year.
Trend Micro says that it took the PC industry about ten years to hit that mark.
This jibes with other recent reports about Android and the malware threat, including an exploit that bypasses a digital signature check, the fact that 92% of the mobile market’s malware is for Android, and that over a million Android users downloaded adware in the past year.
We always bring our salt shakers with us when a company that makes security products tells us that we need to buy security products, but it certainly seems that malware and security are growing problems on the Android platform.
