Android Malware Has Increased 472% Since July

In a report by the Juniper Global Threat Center has found that Android malware has increased by 472% since July of this year. They also pointed out that this October and November were the months that showed the fastest growth of mobile malware on Android ever.

Juniper’s report includes 400% increase in Android malware from 2009 to the summer of 2010. In August, detected malware samples increased by 10%, then by 18% in September. October saw a 110% increase on top of the previous month, and November has so far seen a 111% increase. Check out the infographic below

By comparing to Apple’s App Store, the open-ended nature of the latter, as well as the lack of any code-signing and checking process in Google’s Market are to be blamed.

“These days, it seems all you need is a developer account, that is relatively easy to anonymize, pay $25 and you can post your applications,” wrote Juniper in its report. “With no upfront review process, no one checking to see that your application does what it says, just the world’s largest majority of smartphone users skimming past your application’s description page with whatever description of the application the developer chooses to include.”

As mentioned by Appleinsider, an August report from McAfee found that Android had become the most-targeted platform for malware while iOS was untouched.

In addition to an increase in the volume, the attackers continue to become more sophisticated in the malware they write. For instance, in the early spring, we began seeing Android malware that was capable of leveraging one of several platform vulnerabilities that allowed malware to gain root access on the device, in the background, and then install additional packages to the device to extend the functionality of the malware.

In addition to this, 55% of threats are spyware-based attacks that send private data and take control of devices, while 44% are trojans that send text messages to services that charge the user.

Is this a valid reason for users to opt for iOS devices. What do you think?