Every fifth Android user faces cyber-attacks
13 Oct 2014
Every fifth Android-based device face attack by malware at least once between August 2013 and July 2014.
According to the results of the ''Mobile cyber-threats'' survey carried out by Kaspersky Lab and INTERPOL, between August 2013 and July 2014, every fifth Android-based device protected by Kaspersky Lab security solutions was attacked by malware at least once during the reporting period.
The most popular malicious programs are SMS Trojans that send messages to premium rate numbers without the owner's awareness, web security firm Kaspersky said in a statement.
Kaspersky said over a 12 month period, its security products reported 3,408,112 malware detections on the devices of 1,023,202 users.
Over the 10 month period from August 2013 through March 2014, the number of attacks per month was up nearly tenfold, from 69,000 in August 2013 to 644,000 in March 2014.
The number of users attacked also increased rapidly, from 35,000 in August 2013 to 242,000 in March.
It said 59.06 per4 cent of malware detections related to programs capable of stealing users' money
About 500,000 users have encountered mobile malware designed to steal money at least once.
According to the report, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Ukraine and Germany are the countries with the largest numbers of attacks reported.
Among the malware, Trojans designed to send SMSs were the most widespread malicious programs in the reporting period. They accounted for 57.08 per cent of all detections.
The number of modifications for mobile banking Trojans increased 14 times over 12 months, from a few hundred to more than 5000.
Users in Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Ukraine and Germany are among the main targets for cyber-attacks targeting Android OS.
Mostly this is because people in these countries often pay for content and online services via SMS; for cybercriminals it is an attractive way to monetise malicious attacks because they can use these services to quickly and anonymously transfer money from prepaid mobile accounts to third-party bank accounts.