McAfee: Android OS primary target for malware

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This is something that security software companies have been telling us for some time now, that the open nature of Google's mobile Android OS is making it an easy target for malware. McAfee confirmed as much in its latest report.

The report stated that the amount of malware targeted at Android devices jumped nearly 37 percent since last quarter, and puts 2011 on track to be the busiest in mobile and general malware history.  Nearly all new mobile malware in Q3 was targeted at Android.

Writers of malware and viruses will look to make the most possible damage and will target platforms with the most numner of users. Many people use their smartphones as their main device and Android's surging growth is the reason why it is popular with malware writers.

“This has been a very steady quarter in terms of threats, as both general and mobile malware are more prevalent than ever,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “So far this year, we’ve seen many interesting yet challenging trends that are affecting the threat landscape, including heightened levels of sophistication and high-profile hacktivist attacks.”

One of the most popular forms of trickery in Q3 was SMS-sending Trojans that collect personal information and steal money. Another new method of stealing user information is malware that records phone conversations and forwards them to the attacker.

At the end of 2010, McAfee Labs predicted that malware would reach the 70 million unique samples by the end of 2011. Because of the rapid proliferation of malware this year, McAfee Labs has increased this prediction to 75 million unique malware samples reached by year’s end, the busiest in malware history.