Does your Android device crash frequently or has it taken a
performance hit? Or do you always exceed your data cap or run out of
battery even though you don’t use it much? Or do you see obtrusive
advertisements popping up often on your mobile device?
These are some of the commons signs of malware infection, according to security experts.
As most modern malware are capable of working silently in the
background, they can not only affect your device adversely but also send
out your personal information to a third-party which could result in
financial loss.
It doesn’t take much to contract malware — they could be hidden in
apps, especially games, or infect your device via a compromised website.
Major security vendors, including Sophos, Kaspersky Lab, Trend
Micro, Fortinet and F-Secure, have all reported a rise in mobile
malware.
This is in part due to the explosion in the uptake of Android
devices, be it smartphones or tablets, and the largely unregulated
Android app market.
In the past 12 months mobile malware has increased sixfold to well
over 650,000 individual pieces of malware for Android — a tiny fraction
if compared to the malware on PCs — but it’s the fastest growing threat,
reported Sophos.
While Kaspersky Labs said about 145,000 new malicious programs for
mobile devices was detected last year which is more than double the
figure in 2012.
Apart from high-risk apps, web threats like phishing continues to be
the biggest concern for mobile devices, according to Trend Micro. In a
phishing attack the perpetrator usually mimics a legitimate site to
steal personal information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card
details.
Financial sites remain the most favoured phishing target
particularly in the second quarter of 2013 with PayPal being the most
“abused” company when it comes to such scams.
