Android malware leaps by 76%

New threats against Android phones leapt by 76% in the last quarter, according to security firm McAfee.

The company’s quarterly threat report claimed that Android was now the fastest-growing vector for mobile malware as the popularity of handsets running Google’s mobile OS makes them more attractive to attackers.

“This quarter the count of new Android-specific malware moved to number one, with J2ME (Java Micro Edition), coming in second while suffering only a third as much malware,” the company said in its quarterly threat report.

Mobile threats already take advantage of exploits, employ botnet functionality, and even use rootkit features for stealth and permanence

“This increase in threats to such a popular platform should make us evaluate our behaviour on mobile devices.”

According to the company, the mobile-malware threats were growing so quickly because the writers are leaning on tried and tested methods previously used on PCs.

“As we watch steady, significant growth in the mobile-malware threat landscape, many of the same functions and features of PC-based threats are already part of the codebase,” McAfee said.

“Mobile threats already take advantage of exploits, employ botnet functionality, and even use rootkit features for stealth and permanence,” it said.

“The platform could become an increasing target for cybercriminals, affecting everything from calendar apps and comedy apps to SMS messages and fake Angry Birds updates.”