It’s been well-known for a long time that Google’s Android platform is a serious cesspool for malware and security exploits – and Apple Senior President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller was keen to point that out yet again today.
Be safe out there: f-secure.com/static/doc/lab…
— Philip Schiller (@pschiller) March 7, 2013
In a rare note posted from his Twitter account, Schiller points to a new report from F-Secure stating that Android accounts for a massive 79% of all mobile malware, compared to iOS, which accounts for just 0.7%.
From the report (via The Loop):
Android malware has been strengthening its position in the mobile threat scene. Every quarter, malware authors bring forth new threat families and variants to lure more victims and to update on the existing ones. In the fourth quarter alone, 96 new families and variants of Android threats were discovered, which almost doubles the number recorded in the previous quarter. […]
The rise of Android malware can be largely attributed to the operating system’s increasing foothold in the mobile market. Android’s market share has risen to 68.8% in 2012, compared to 49.2% in 20112. On the threat side, its share rose to 79% in 2012 from 66.7% in 2011. Symbian on the other hand, is suffering from the opposite fate. In 2012, it only held 3.3% market share which is a huge drop from 16.5% in the year before. Its share in the threat scene also reflected this drop, going from 29.7% in 2011 to 19% in 2012. Nokia’s decision to halt all Symbian development in February 2012 may have contributed to the huge drop in numbers. As its market share declines, so does malware authors’ interest in the platform as evidenced by the statistics seen in Q4 where only four new families and variants of Symbian malware were recorded.
Have fun with that, Android users! Aren’t those “free bonuses” that come with your Android device just lovely?
