Android malware threats spike 35 per cent year-on-year

Riddled with attacks via banking, data, dating and beyond.
Android has always been accused of security problems due to the open source nature of its design, and McAfee Labs says the malware threats on the Google OS in Q2 rose by 35 per cent year-on-year.
The attacks are coming in a plethora of forms, such as: SMS-stealing banking malware, fraudulent dating and entertainment apps, weaponised legitimate apps and malicious apps posing as useful tools.
Banking violations are happening with hackers stealing usernames and passwords, then intercepting verification codes that are being sent from the bank to the consumer via text.
Meanwhile, those unlucky in love have been scammed by people paying for services that don't exist.
It seems Trojan apps are the worst ones to watch out for however, with real apps being converted to act as spyware and collect data – call logs, contacts, location, texts – from devices.
Vincent Weafer, SVP, McAfee Labs, said: "The mobile cybercrime landscape is becoming more defined as cyber gangs determine which tactics are most effective and profitable.
"As in other mature areas of cybercrime, the profit motive of hacking bank accounts has eclipsed the technical challenges of bypassing digital trust. Tactics such as the dating and entertainment app scams benefit from the lack of attention paid to such schemes; while others simply target the mobile paradigm's most popular currency: personal user information."

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