Anyone who reads the news or owns a smartphone knows that Android malware is on the rise, but what is surprising is the exponential growth, nearly 300 percent, of that malicious software from 2011 through 2014.
Quick Heal Labs uncovered nearly 3 million malware samples in 2014, including 536 new malware families and 616 new variants, according to the company's "Annual Threat Report for 2014," a report in the Business Standard said.
Alarmingly, but also not surprisingly, attackers have been able to successfully publish fake apps and games on Google Play to distribute malware. The security firm attributes the increase in malware to a sharp growth in the number of Android smartphones currently in use.
The report also shows an uptick in Android ransomware last year and predicts that attacks against Apple's iOS and Windows Phone OS will continue to grow.
