14 DAY TRIAL // Google’s Android operating system is leading the smartphone segment at the moment, but its top position also determined a wide increase in malware and adware for the platform, with users’ privacy being most affected by this.
According to a recent report coming from BitDefender Labs, adware aimed at Android-based smartphones and tablet PCs has increased 61 percent in the five months through January, affecting users worldwide.
Furthermore, Android malware is said to have expanded 27 percent in the timeframe, while adware in the United States grew 35 percent over the same period, the report explains. The overall number of Trojan reports increased 37 percent in December last year, it seems.
“Android malware and adware are not uncommon to both third party marketplaces and the official Google Play store. While Android adoption increased steadily in the past five months, so has the number of malware and adware detections,” the company says.
November and December 2012 saw the steepest growth of adware, which reached a 34 percent raise in a month.
Trojan, on the other hand, experienced a steady increase from September last year to January 2013, but dropped a few percentage points in February, it seems.
“With adware become more intrusive and more bent on collecting as much sensitive information as possible, the line between legitimate software and actual malware is more blurry than ever,” BitDefender notes.
“Virulent adware seems to increasingly violate user privacy by collecting personal information and using it without users’ knowledge.”
In the United States, the evolution of Android adware and malware was different for the aforementioned timeframe, the security firm notes, adding that growth indeed spiked during the holiday season.
During the last two months of the last year, adware registered a growth of 32 percent, while Android malware went up by 33 percent when compared to the previous months.