According to a survey conducted by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab in the summer of 2013, over 50% of Android-based smartphone and tablet owners do not use any security software to protect their devices against cyberthreats. Meanwhile, Android has long been the most popular platform for ordinary users and the cybercriminals who would use malware to steal from them.
Only 40% of smartphone and 42% of tablet owners participating in the survey stated that they have installed a security solution on their devices and are now using it. Other respondents were content to rely on the limited security features integrated in the operating system, or trust their own instincts to keep them safe.
Meanwhile, for cybercriminals Android is well-established as the top target among all mobile platforms. According to the Kaspersky Lab cloud service Kaspersky Security Network, which accumulates data about urgent cyber-threats, 99% of current malware samples targeting mobile devices have been developed for the Android platform. And this threat is growing: in 2012 Kaspersky Lab specialists detected 35,000 malicious samples while in the first half of 2013 - over 47,000.
There are two main reasons why cybercriminals are interested in the Android platform: popularity and functionality. A malicious programme can make a smartphone send text-messages to premium-rate short numbers, thus stealing money from the user's account; it can turn the smartphone into a spying device, giving the fraudsters information about the device owner - all calls, correspondence, passwords to social network and e-pay accounts, etc. In other words, all the communication, entertainment and computing capabilities of Android-based devices are just as popular with criminals as they are with regular users, said a statement issued by the lab.
There's another serious risk which can have unpleasant consequences - the high probability of devices being lost or stolen. For many people smartphones and tablets have become the main place to store their favorite photos and videos, correspondence with friends and family, working papers and other valuable information which must not fall into the wrong hands.
The lab experts therefore advised users of Android-based devices to protect their smartphones and tablets with a high-quality solution in the internet security class.