‘There are 10m compromised Android apps’

Kaspersky Labs says it has spotted over 10 million rogue Android apps which can do everything from send spam to snoop on passwords.It said apps that steal a user’s financial information were the most common.What can a rogue app do?In most cases malicious programs target the user’s financial information.Other common tasks performed by botnets include […]

Kaspersky Labs says it has spotted over 10 million rogue Android apps which can do everything from send spam to snoop on passwords.
It said apps that steal a user’s financial information were the most common.
What can a rogue app do?
In most cases malicious programs target the user’s financial information.
Other common tasks performed by botnets include mass spam mail-outs, DDoS attacks and mass spying on personal information ‘The mobile world is one the fastest-developing IT security areas,’ a spokesman said.
‘In 2013 security issues around mobiles have reached new heights and attained a new level of maturity in terms of both quality and quantity.
‘If 2011 was the year when mobile malware gained traction, especially in Android-land, and 2012 was the year of mobile malware
diversification, then 2013 saw mobile malware come of age.’
The firms latest research revealed the list of malicious Android apps has now hit the 10 million mark.
On January 30, 2014, the official Google Play market offered 1,103,104 applications, Kaspersky said.
 Alternative, unofficial stores have many more – and these are more likely to be malicious, the firm warned.
The firm said the reason hackers targetted Android was because of its ‘open’ app store, unlike Apple’s iTunes store which checks and controls every app made available.
‘Android is still target number one, attracting a whopping 98.05% of known malware,’ the report said.
‘No other OS gets anywhere close.
‘The reasons for this are Android’s leading market position, the prevalence of third party app stores and the fact that Android has a rather open architecture, making it easy to use for both app developers and malware authors alike.
‘We do not expect this trend to change in near future.’ Kaspersky Lab said it has now logged 10 million dubious apps, as cybercriminals use also legitimate Android software to carry their malicious code.
In most cases malicious programs target the user’s financial information.
This was the case, for example, with the mobile version of Carberp Trojan that originated in Russia.
It steals user credentials as they are sent to a bank server.
According to Kaspersky Lab experts, the majority of malicious Android applications are currently developed in Russia.
‘Mobile botnets actually offer a significant advantage over traditional botnets,’ the firm explained.
‘Smartphones are rarely shut down, making the botnet far more reliable since almost all its assets are always available and ready for new instructions.
‘Common tasks performed by botnets include mass spam mail-outs, DDoS attacks and mass spying on personal information, all of them non-demanding actions in terms of performance and easily achieved on smartphones.’