EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In the past 10 years, mobile device usage has increased exponentially. More than 5.3 billion people use mobile phones worldwide, and over 90% of those individuals rely on smart or internet-enabled phones. Roughly 40 apps exist on each phone. By the end of 2022, more than 200 billion apps will have been downloaded from virtual app stores.
As the number of mobile devices and apps increase, the probability of experiencing a cyber attack also heightens. Means of accessing devices are diversifying, and the new malware types employed require ever more sophisticated and streamlined approaches for managing risk.
What is mobile malware?
Mobile malware is malicious software specifically designed to target mobile devices. These devices include smartphones, Tablets, smartwatches, and other IoT items. Mobile malware represents a growing cyber security concern, as it can result in the theft and/or sale of private data.
Mobile malware statistics
In this article, get statistics that confirm the need for strong mobile security protection and that make the case for upgrading security on behalf of your fleet of mobile devices.
- The NSO group’s Pegasus spyware remains as the most notorious of commercial phone malware/spyware varieties, but new findings indicate that Predator spyware could target tens of thousands of Android phones.
- Banking malware threats on Android devices have increased by 80%, meaning that strong phone security is more important than ever before.
- Last year, Adware accounted for 42% of new mobile malware worldwide. How’s your adware protection?
- 47% of free Android antivirus programs can’t effectively detect malware. Are your BYOD employees relying on free antivirus programs?
- There are 50X more Android mobile malware infections than iOS infections. 50X!
- Mobile malware apps that provide backdoors into phones are currently spreading via SMS or text messaging.
- Some cyber criminals are paying a monthly fee of $5,000 to rent an app that steals access credentials from hundreds of other fraudulent apps.
- 97% of organizations have contended with malware threats that leverage various attack vectors.
- Cyber security researchers recently devised a malware threat that can persist on iPhones even when the devices run in low-power mode.
- During Q1 of 2022, security programs successfully blocked 6,463,414 mobile malware, adware and riskware attacks.
Do you have the right security software in place?
Types of mobile malware
In order to improve malware protection, it’s critical to understand the different types of mobile malware threats.
- Bank trojans. This malware type commonly masquerades as a legitimate application. It tends to affect users who are just going about their personal banking activities from mobile devices. Banking trojans generally aim to steal credentials.
- Remote Access Tools (RATs). These are typically used for intelligence collection purposes. RATs can gather installed application information, call history data, address books, web browsing history and SMS data. Further, RATs can be used to send SMS messages, to enable device cameras and to log GPS data.
- Adware. This type of malware enables an attacker to hijack a device in order to generate income via fake ad clicks.
- Cryptomining Malware. This type of malware allows attackers to execute calculations on a victim’s device – enabling them to generate cryptocurrency. Cryptomining is often conducted via Trojan code that’s surreptitiously lurking in legitimate-seeming applications.
While we’ve only covered a few mobile malware attack types here, other exist and include mobile bots, mobile phishing attacks and ransomware.
In conclusion
Keep personal and corporate data safe by securing mobile devices. Learn about market-leading mobile threat defense solutions. For individuals, explore Zone Alarm’s offerings. For robust protection across an organization, visit Check Point’s Harmony Mobile page.
Lastly, to receive cutting-edge cyber security news, exclusive interviews, expert analyses and security resources, please sign up for the CyberTalk.org newsletter.
