Android Attracting More Malware
Android OS for smartphones is attracting a massive increase in viruses, according to a report from internet security firm McAfee released recently. The analysis shows the number of unique pieces of malware attacking the system exploding from less than 20 million in 2010 to an estimated 75 million in the last quarter of 2011, as they illustrate in this graph:
CNET attributes this increase to Android’s “growing demand among consumers”, causing it to attract almost “all new mobile malware” in the last few months. Trojan horse viruses infecting your device can do everything from steal passwords to transfer money to record your phone conversations and messages.
This is more bad news for Google, Microsoft, and Android users. Recent criticisms and problems have included the future loss of their much-touted Flash mobile capabilities. And consumers might be even more wary of buying a potentially buggy smartphone after the revelation that Android OS is hardly ever updated, and service protection often ends quickly. With these additional concerns, Android will have to lean even more heavily on their price advantages and any hardware/software differences from competitors.
What do you think? Would you still buy an Android?
This article has been debunked as false. The graph in question is number of samples (i.e. 82), not percentages, and certainly not “75 million” as you suggest. The “75 million” figure in the next paragraph of Mcafee’s report refers to Windows malware, not Android, and even the meagre 82 samples of Android “malware” is just social engineering (trojans) not virus infections, and therefore has no bearing on the actual security of Android.
Please correct this misleading article.
See this article for clarification:
http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/51382-android-scare-percentages-do-not-tell-the-real-tale