Android Malware Has Surged 472 Percent Since July

Source: IDG News

Android users take note: Researchers have found a whopping 472 percent increase in Android malware samples since this summer. The free-for-all Android Market has seen a striking increase in the volume of attacks since July, according to research from Juniper Networks, as attackers continue to become more sophisticated in the malware they write.

October and November saw the fastest growth in Android malware discovery ever since Google’s OS was launched, Juniper Global Threat Center found. The researchers identified a 28 percent increase in malware samples in September, which exploded to a 110 percent increase in October, and a further 111 percent in November. The numbers are even more alarming, considering Juniper also reported a 400 percent spike in Android malware from 2009 to the summer of 2010.

The majority of these malicious Android apps (55 percent) usually target personal information stored on phones, while some 44 percent are SMS Trojans that send background SMS messages to premium rate numbers owned by the attacker. Juniper believes the people behind these malware apps are the same ones who wrote malicious code for older versions of Windows Mobile and Symbian, but have since moved to Android, given the 43 percent of the mobile OS market it commands and the open nature of the Android Market.

The problem seems to be on the user-side of things, too. According to a study this summer, Android users are the least aware of security concerns and least prepared to protect their phone from malware; four out of 10 users haven’t done anything to secure their phone, and less than half of Android users lock their devices with a password.

Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/article/244077/android_malware_has_surged_472_percent_since_july.html

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Google = Microsoft 2.0

Android = Windows Redux

Same concept applies to operating systems.

When you have to ask The Man for permission to do anything and conform to His rules and tight control, you get order and safety, but it comes at the expense of freedom.

When you give the people the ability to do anything they want, innovation and creativity flourish, but it's messy and gives the malcontents room to operate.

iOS is the neatly manicured suburban neighborhood with the gate across the main road, private security keeping out the miscreants, and governing board dictating the approved colors for your house and the maximum height of your mandatory grass lawn.

Android is Manhattan. Edgy, innovative, and full of fun and hip people, but with no small share of muggers, car thieves, and taggers wandering around amid the crowds.

Which world do you want to live in?

Nary an Android to be seen.

What was the question?

Authoritarianism is popular everywhere, though it's often expressed in different ways. People like to feel "safe", and too many are willing to bend a knee to achieve that feeling.


But, more generally, you seem to have missed my point.