Cybercriminals Steal More than $1 Million (€700,000) from Android Users in 2011

A recent study made by Lookout Mobile Security reveals that mobile malware has become a reality, cybercriminals managing to illegally earn more than $1 million (700,000 EUR) only from Android users, experts estimating that next year things will get even worse.

The figures show that the likelihood for an Android user to encounter a malicious element has risen from 1% to 4% from the beginning of 2011. Reportedly, Android customers worldwide have a 36% chance of clicking on a link that will eventually point to a malware-filled website.

“2011 was a watershed year in terms of the types threats we saw emerging. Threats had greater sophistication and were deployed using more innovative and efficient distribution methods,” said Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder and chief technology officer at Lookout.

“In 2012, we expect to see the mobile malware business turn profitable. What took 15 years on the PC platform has only taken the mobile ecosystem two years.”

When it comes to monetization trends, experts believe that malevolent software that sends SMS messages to premium rate numbers will represent the favorite method utilized by crooks to fill their pockets.

On the bright side of things, even though many believed botnet networks will be used at a larger scale, so far they haven’t really made their presence felt. In 2012, however, malware writers are expected to seamlessly integrate thousands of mobile devices into botnet-like networks that will distribute spam and steal sensitive information.

The automated repackaging of malicious applications may be a problem next year since researchers already stumbled upon a few situations where the phenomenon proved its efficiency.

Malvertising and browser attacks are also things we should fear in 2012 since the methods were already successfully utilized on several occasions.

Finally, not only Android devices will be targeted by the malicious operations described above. iOS-running machines will also be exploited since vulnerabilities are discovered at a much greater pace than they can be resolved.