I enjoy having a pop at Apple’s fascist control over their products as much as the next man, but in order for us to prove to Steve that he does not need such power over developers, more open operating systems like Android need to prove that they can actually run safely and efficiently without a prison guard. So far, so good for Android, there's been no crisis yet and both developers and downloaders all seem pretty happy. Plus a great model for apps has opened up in that the Android Market offers a bargain bin of apps, a free for all of software if you like, whilst the more safety conscious consumer has the option of the Amazon store if they want it. This is probably the best solution to the problem of safety VS freedom, but regardless of how well things appear to be ticking over now, Android's market is slowly creeping towards a malware meltdown which is going to feed right into Apple's hands.
A new report has highlighted the increase of malware on Android, stating its prominence on the mobile platform has risen by 400 per cent since the summer of 2010. (Obviously we must take into account the growth of Android itself) but either way it's an alarming statistic and the Android Market is currently the biggest distribution point for malware on smartphones.
Jeff Wilson, Principal Analyst of Security at Infonetics Research states that "The last 18 months have produced a non-stop barrage of newsworthy threat events and while most had been aimed at traditional desktop computers, hackers are now setting their sights on mobile devices. Operating system consolidation and the massive and growing installed base of powerful mobile devices is tempting profit-motivated hackers to target these devices."
One of the main problems is that consumers are not aware that their smartphone needs protection just as a PC would only six per cent of Android users have any form of anti-virus software. It would be a sensible move for Google to add anti-virus software to a new OS update. Something has to be done.
One thought on “Android Market Riddled With Malware”
I’ll stick to my safe “closed” Apple systems thanks. It makes me laugh that people bang on about open systems so they can mess around with stuff and then a small portion of those people write malware and viruses to target the other people who wanted an open system. Damn good way to increase the popularity of a closed system.