What the report talks about when it comes to increased usage of Antivirus makes a lot of sense in the smartphone space.
People have not yet got used to the fact that their smartphone is as much a Computer as a phone(if not more);hence the complacency there.But you also cannot ignore the Base effect.Two years back the number of Android phones on the market was very small.Its seen explosive growth now so thats whats affected the malware numbers as well(I elaborated on this in my post-More attractive target for malware writers).
When it comes to the Mac-unlikely with MSFT ,people at Apple tend to cut off access/information flow about all/any vulnerabilities(including sweeping them under the rug plus engaging in disinformation of the worst order).
MSFT on the other hand have a very good Patch Tuesday thing going.They accept that there will always be bugs in software and ensure the widest disclosure possible.
I have seen a number of surveys which all consistently give Apple the LOWEST marks when it comes to patching cross-platform or individual vulnerabilities.
This is something which needs to change and change fast.
In the case of Android as everything is open(except with the new Honeycomb);things tend to patched very-very quickly.
The study points out at today's malware infections. I would say that after three years of Android adoption the 400 percent malware infection is going to be significatly lower.
The decrease in Android malware infections will be the result of users using an intivirus software. in their Android mobile devices, which is precisely what they don't seem to be doing now, according to the report.
From mobilecrunch.com:
"Juniper Networks today (May 10, 2011) released a study concerned with potential threats to mobile technology, revealing a 400 percent increase in Android malware. The study also found that both enterprise and consumer mobile devices are being exposed to a record number of security threats, including highly targeted Wi-Fi attacks.
One of the most unsettling findings of the study was the fact that the greatest distribution point for mobile malware is the application download. With the 400-percent increase of Android malware, now would be as good a time as any to choose an antivirus app. Still, the vast majority of mobile users neglect to employ any form of antivirus software on their mobile devices. And Android isn’t the only medium under attack, either. According to a different study from AVG Technologies, Facebook (along with Android) has seen a huge jump in malicious campaigns, specifically three times that of last year.
The study also revealed the risks of SMS, which is particularly upsetting, as it is the most used activity on a cell phone for about a million years running, and may just be the preferred form of communication in the next few years. To that end, it is certainly worth noting that 17 percent of all reported infections came from SMS trojans, which sent texts to premium rate numbers, incurring major charges to the victims. The study also mentioned that 20 percent of all teens admit to sending explicit or inappropriate material from a mobile device.
Let this be a wake-up call for all of us. If hackers have spent their lives devising ways to ruin our computers, what makes us think our precious smartphones are any exception? Food for thought."
If you read previous comments, you can follow and join the conversation Mr.Roques and I were having on this topic. :)
You say: "Unfortunately in the case of the Mac it may not be true." Can you elaborate a little on that?
This is not a fair comparison.Given that it is coming of a very small base.
Only after Android has been widely adopted for atleast 3 years should we look at how heavily infected/affected it is by Malware.
Also,looking at MSFT once again;I think that this will always be the case,the more common(widespread adoption) of an OS the more malware there is affecting it.That's simply because it becomes more lucrative for malware writers in this case.It has very little to do with whether Windows is a more secure OS than Android or the Mac (for instance).
Believe me on this,if things were turned around(with Macs more popular and in widespread use than Windows);we would see more Malware targetted at Macs.
In my opinion,MSFT is doing everything it can to make its new OS more secure than the preceding versions.
Unfortunately in the case of the Mac it may not be true.
wow! Just what we have been pointing out about Android -- it's simply to open to be safe. Solutions? I can't come up with one except going to a company-owned "flavor" of Android.
Well, now that MSFT is putting their OS in all Nokia phones, Nokia must be very scared about the response from users (if they like it, etc). If they don't they have a ton of options.
Exactly. Nokia is very strong in Europe and in emerging markets but as it goes with any human being: they want more and they wanted to do better in the US market. They tried already with Yahoo! Now Microsoft.
What I really see here is that Nokia, that used to be a mobile world leader just by itself, now is losing identity and followers.
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