Poll shows smartphone users more likely to use anti-malware protection on their phones than three years ago.
In a poll of visitors to the VB website, 57% of smartphone users said they had no anti-malware protection on their phones – compared to 70% three years ago.
While this is still a large number of unprotected smartphone users, the drop in the number of users claiming to have no anti-malware protection suggests that mobile users are starting to take the security of their devices more seriously, and that malware protection for mobile devices is becoming more commonplace.
A few years ago, malware on mobile devices was little and far between, and consisted mainly of proof-of-concepts, but in 2010 an increase in monetized malware and malware targeting privacy was observed on mobile platforms, suggesting that mobile malware was moving into the realms of larger-scale cybercriminality. More worryingly, towards the end of 2010, the infamous Zeus gang – known for targeting online banking – started to show an interest in infecting mobile phones and released a new version of their bot which propagated a trojan for mobile phones. A detailed analysis of that trojan (named
Zitmo
) can be found in the current issue of
Virus Bulletin
magazine
here
(
VB
subscribers only), with a follow-up article due for publication in the April issue of the magazine.
The results of the 2008 poll can be read about
here
, and the 2011 poll can be seen
here
.
With 75% of employees predicted to be using a smart mobile device for work by the end of 2012, and the number of Internet-enabled mobile devices predicted to outgrow the PC by tenfold over the next decade, Greg Day will address the question
‘
Mobility – where is the real risk?
‘
at the VB Seminar in May.
The
VB Seminar
takes place Tuesday 24 May 2011 at the OU campus, Milton Keynes, UK. Secure your place by
booking online now
. (Or download a PDF copy of
the booking form
and fax the completed form to us on +44 (0)1865 543153.)
Posted on 16 March 2011 by
Virus Bulletin
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