Malware moans
The number of malware attacks on smartphones has rocketed by a third on last year's levels, making 2010 a record year for mobile malware infections, according to a new report.
Malware engineered for Android phones rose most significantly, with a four-fold increase in the number of exploits identified throughout 2010 compared to 2009, although the total number of Android exploits is still at a low level relative to older platforms, according to mobile security firm, AdaptiveMobile.
The firm reckons the sharp rise is due to cyber criminals shifting their focus towards smartphones and platforms that are likely to see the most widespread adoption in the next few years.
The report found that exploits aimed at the iPhone declined, while Symbian malware also plunged by 11 percent, yet WinCE-based viruses rose by 7 percent. Interestingly smartphones running Java-based apps saw the second highest increase in malware reported, up a staggering 45 percent since 2009.
While another recent report highlighted the dangers and opportunities smartphones can bring, AdaptiveMobile's report agreed viruses put mobile users at risk of financial, privacy and data loss, often before they even realise there's a problem.
"With the increasing pervasiveness of Smartphone devices, 2010 has undoubtedly been the year that fraudsters have truly turned their attention to mobile platforms," says Gareth Maclachlan, COO at AdaptiveMobile.
"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," he added.
According to Cisco's 2010 Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast smartphone penetration is set to reach 37 percent in Europe and 44 percent in the US by 2012 and therefore Maclachlan predicts the number of threats targeted at unsuspecting mobile users will continue to increase at an ‘exponential rate' in 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," he said.
He reckons such attacks will shake-up the telecoms and security markets as traditional ways of protecting smartphones can't keep up and provide adequate protection.
