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A recent study by mobile security vendor, AdaptiveMobile, reported first here at cellular-news.com, indicates that malware attacks are up 33% over last year for the smart-phone market, and specifically attacks against Androids are four times what they were previously. Of course, part of that data is skewed because this year has seen the largest increase in sales of Android phones as well, but the report is still very troubling. Commenting on the report, Gareth Maclachlan, Chief Operating Officer of AdaptiveMobile also went on to say, "With the increasing pervasiveness of Smartphone devices, 2010 has undoubtedly been the year that fraudsters have truly turned their attention to mobile platforms."
He further added, ""The vast majority of consumers are acutely aware of the threats that PC-based viruses, spam messages and phishing emails pose, but many are still unaware of the risks associated with their mobile devices. With Smartphone penetration reported to reach 37 per cent in Europe and 44 per cent in the US by 2012,* we predict that the number of threats targeted at unsuspecting mobile users will continue to increase at an exponential rate throughout the course of 2011. Even more significantly, the nature of the threats we are seeing will increase in sophistication. Whereas the majority of existing threats target either SMS, voice, email or web, the next year will see the emergence of the 'compound threat' - intelligent scams designed to exploit multiple phone capabilities in order to reap maximum reward for the criminals, before the user even realises they have become a victim."
So, the most troubling thing about this is that most people don't really think about the safety of smart-phones, because, psychologically, most of us view them as appliances. Unfortunately, because they are literally mobile mini-computers, they are almost as likely to get infected as a typical home-based PC, and most problems go completely unnoticed by the end-user by the time it's too late.
I am sure that the prime-movers of the smart-phone industry are working hard to counter as many security threats as they can, but we can't just rely on them to protect us from the bad guys. Perhaps one of the best solutions to this rising dilemma is for us to change the way we perceive our smart-phones. We need a fundamental shift in our thinking, and begin to be consciously aware about protecting ourselves. The guys over at Phandroid had some excellent points here, "As always, be safe with what you download. Check permissions, ratings, and user feedback before installing apps to your phone. They may look as innocent as a ringtone app on the surface, but it is what lurks beneath that could get you in trouble."
Also, I believe an additional pro-active approach would be to constantly share as much information as possible with each other on the forums. Whenever we, or our friends, have experienced any kind of security threat, let's spread the info as fast as possible. The more we work together, the less likely the criminal scum-bags can succeed in victimizing people.
by dgstorm
Source: Phandroid.com
