Majority of Mobile Malware Attacks Focus on Financial Gains - IT Business Edge

IT Business Edge, By Sue Poremba

A recently released Kaspersky Lab and INTERPOL survey found that 60 percent of the attacks on Android devices involve financial malware.

In the report, Mobile Cyber Threats, the researchers provide a very simple reason for why this is: Smartphones and tablets are being used more and more frequently for financial transactions. And, as the survey also showed, the vast majority of international mobile-device users use an Android device. Malware developers are literally following the money trail.

Another interesting tidbit in that study: Over the time period examined, between August 2013 and July 2014, the amount of malware modifications sharply increased. As explained in a release, even a small change makes it difficult for AV software to detect. Again, advantage bad guys:

The high level of modification growth found during this study shows that cybercriminals were creating multiple variations of their malware in attempts to go undetected by antivirus solutions and infect as many devices as possible. Typically, antivirus companies will create a new signature within the software to defend against this type of tactic. Read more.