Security Advisor
2013: The Year of the Mobile Malware
Security firm ESET sees the upward growth of mobile attacks, especially against Android devices, to continue this trend for next year.
Because it's mid December, most of the security news landscape is filled with either stories on how not to get ripped off when finishing up holiday online shopping or speculation on what the new year will bring.
According to security firm ESET (which advises that you follow safe practices when making any online purchases), 2013 looks to be a booming year for those in the mobile malware game.
The company's logic is pretty simple: As people start to increase activities (like online banking) that, until recently, were reserved for their home computers, attackers will increase their activity against mobile targets.
And, because of Android's large smartphone market share lead and its relatively open OS, Google's mobile platform will continue to see exponential growth in attack. ESET found that there were 17 times more global attacks than in 2011.
Getting into specifics, ESET projects that Trojan-based malware will continue to lead the attack against mobile platforms because of the continued success hackers have had with them.
"As long as this type of fraudulent business stays profitable and easy to implement for cybercriminals, it is likely that SMS Trojans will continue to be the most common mobile threat category during 2013," said ESET in its report.