Mobile Malware: Faster, Better, Cheaper

by. Jeremiah Cahill

Mobile malware attacks have increased more than six-fold in the past year, according to the third annual Mobile Threats Report from Juniper Networks.

Given the scale of criminal opportunity, Juniper observes that malware developers are using a business approach to “improve profitability through faster go-to-market strategies.”

Industry predictions show mobile phone sales of nearly 1.9 billion units this year, more than half of which will be smartphones. Tablet sales alone are likely to outpace the entire PC market by 2015.

Juniper analyzed data from the 12 months ended in March and found the total number of malicious apps has grown to 276,000—much of it targeted at Google Android and its commanding market share.

Three quarters of that software is a type of SMS or text-based Trojan, says Troy Vennon, director of Juniper Networks’ mobile threat center.

“A business case has emerged for malware developers,” Vennon tells Bank Technology News. “A majority of them have found a way to monetize [their wares] via SMS.”

These Trojans are usually hidden in third-party app stores that Google or another mobile platform operator doesn’t control, with much of the software written around the holiday season from October to January.

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