It seems Google’s Android prominence is attracting increasing attacks from mobile malware. Or how else can we explain the fact that Android accounted for 79% of all malware in 2012, up from 66.7% in 2011 and just 11.25% in 2010.
In contrast, Apple’s iOS, remains one of the least compromised, with 0.7% of malware on its platform.
F-Secure, in its recent report, shows that Android saw a significant increase in malware at the end of the year, accounting for 94% of all threats in the fourth quarter.
Symbian, whose market share is in rapid decline, is down to 19% of all malware, compared to 62.5% two years ago.
The report also stated that most malware, however, is found in emerging markets. So a majority of mobile users in Europe and the United States will never be affected but should still be cautious of suspicious text messages, links and emails.
F-Secure’s graph outlining mobile malware threats is shown below.
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| Threat families and variants by Platform, 2010–2012 |
