With smartphones getting sophisticated and gradually replacing PCs as the preferred mode of both personal and professional computing, cyber criminals have turned their attention to these mobile devices, reveals the Malicious Mobile Threats Report 2011 of Juniper research.
One of the key findings of the report is that the enterprise and consumer mobile devices are exposed to a record number of security threats, including a 400 per cent increase in Android Malware as well as highly targeted WiFi attacks.
“The single greatest distribution point for mobile Malware is through application downloads, yet the vast majority of smartphone users are not employing an anti-virus solution on their mobile device to scan for Malware,” said the report
In a nutshell, smartphone revolution is one of the key reasons for the increase in security threats that are taking place globally and a major percentage of that goes to Android.
Android is seeing a rise in the mobile Malware owing to the large number of third party applications the OS has.
“These findings reflect a perfect storm of users who are either uneducated on or disinterested in security, downloading readily available applications from unknown and unvetted (Untrusted) sources in the complete absence of mobile device security solutions,” said Dan Hoffman, chief mobile security evangelist at Juniper Networks
Considering the increase in the threats, users are advised to use better anti-virus solutions that protect them from attacks and Malwares. Along with that, use of a stronger Password is also recommended that might be a little harder to remember but goes a long way in saving the precious data on the smartphone or mobile phone.