According to a report by antivirus software maker McAfee, Android is now the “most attacked mobile operating system,” with a jump in malware attacks of 76 percent in the last quarter. This impressive win is even more so when you consider that Android “outpaces second place Java ME threefold”.
While we are normally skeptical of scary announcements from anti-malware companies, this is McAfee’s regular quarterly report outlining the state of general security, so the numbers are probably good.
Interestingly, you’ll see that iOS doesn’t appear on the above chart at all. It seems like Android’s “open” nature is indeed open, in that anyone can put any software, including malware, on your phone. John Gruber of Daring Fireball sums it up thusly: “Remember the old argument about Apple platforms not getting malware only because they weren’t popular enough to attract attention?”
So what’s the solution? Crapware! Over at PC Pro, Mike Jennings got a new Android phone to play with.
On Friday, I eased the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro from its box, turned it on, and was greeted with a message urging me to set up McAfee WaveSecure before I’d even set up the phone with my Google account.
While this scary first experience might help to make Windows users feel at home, there’s no way we should have to deal with this kind of crap on our mobile devices, especially as we have a lot more personal information on there than we do on our computers. It certainly makes a powerful argument for Apple’s conservative, controlled approach.
McAfee Q2 2011 Threats Report Shows Significant Growth for Malware on Mobile Platforms [McAfee]
Malware slams Android, but not iOS [The Loop]
So malware is worse than hacked batteries.