Android malware issue not hype says Trend Micro

[steven36]

Recent reports from antivirus companies seem to suggest that the number of Android malware threats is growing. However, there are still many skeptics who think that the extent of the problem is exaggerated.

Recent reports from antivirus companies seem to suggest that the number of Android malware threats is growing. However, there are still many skeptics who think that the extent of the problem is exaggerated.

 

The security industry has an embarrassing credibility issue when it comes to mobile threats, Rik Ferguson, global vice president of security research at antivirus vendor Trend Micro, said Friday in a blog post.

 

Big industry vendors warned for many years that "next year" mobile malware will truly take off, but the threat never quite materialised, he said. "Now that the problem is well and truly here -- the last two years have both been called 'the year of mobile malware' at several points -- we have a problem persuading the world at large that we are not crying 'Wolf!' yet again."

 

One of the arguments commonly brought forward by skeptics is that Android malware mostly exists on third-party app stores that are popular in countries like China or Russia. That's not true, Ferguson said.

 

Trend Micro's mobile app reputation service has analysed over 2 million mobile app samples collected from around the world and 293,091 of them have been classified as outright malicious, Ferguson said.

 

Almost 69,000 of those were sourced directly from Google Play, which offers around 700,000 apps in total, he said. "It's not just Chinese and Russian app stores."

 

The Source