According to a report published by Alcatel-Lucent, worldwide over 11.6 million mobile devices are infected by malware. Of these, 60 per cent are smartphones which function on the Android-based operating systems, the remaining 40 per cent of the infected devices comprise of Windows-based computers which are tethered to the mobile network.
The findings of the report indicate that mobile malware infections increased by 20 per cent in 2013, with 4G devices being susceptible to infections. Android-based smartphones were infected by malware in the form of applications downloaded from third party application stores including Google Play Store or by phishing scams. Further, 40 per cent of mobile malware originated from Windows-based computers and laptops tethered to a mobile phone or connected directly through a mobile USB stick or Mi-Fi hub. Infections on iPhone devices and BlackBerry devices accounted for less than 1 per cent of the total malware attacks in 2013. Meanwhile, the security threat to home networks remained constant with traditional ?fixed? malware affecting majority of mobile devices.
According to Alcatel Lucent, the malicious software or ?malware? used by hackers to gain access to devices increased in 2013 with consumer ultra-broadband usage. Increasingly, hackers are using malware to commit espionage and launch denial of service attacks on businesses and governments.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, the mobile infection rate stood at 0.55 per cent which indicates that at any given point of time over 11.6 mobile devices (majority of them being Android-based smartphones) are infected by malware. However, the residential infection rate in fixed networks declined from 9.6 per cent in October 2013 to 8.7 per cent in December 2013. For the year 2013, the average infection rate in fixed networks remained relatively flat at 10 per cent. Meanwhile, 6 per cent of the broadband residential customers were infected with high-level threats such as a bots, root-kits, and banking Trojans. Although Zero Access malware impacted wide range of devices across operating system, the infection rate for the malware declined from 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 to the corresponding quarter in 2013. The decline was largely on account of improved security measures undertaken by companies such as Microsoft and Symantec to disrupt infections by Zero Access malware.
The report states that in 2013 mobile spyware infected smartphones and tablets were used as cyber-espionage devices allowing hackers to remotely track location, download contact lists and personal information, intercept and send messages, record conversation and take pictures.
