Android Malware Problems Continue to Grow

By: Matt Liebowitz, MSNBC

There's an alarming amount of malicious software targeting Google's Android smartphone platform, but experts say the problem will only get worse until a large share of Android customers experience firsthand the frustration, inconvenience and damage the malware can cause.

"Android malware is growing at an exponential rate, but until a large and significant user base is affected by malware, I fear we won't see any major changes in user behavior," Tim Armstrong, malware researcher for the anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab, told SecurityNewsDaily.

Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor with Sophos, put the issue in terms nearly every smartphone customer can relate to: "Most consumers don't care until they get their first $1,000 phone bill because their pirated Angry Birds has been calling Estonia all month."

Both Armstrong and Wisniewski were commenting on a new report from Juniper Networks showing that Android malware has jumped 472 percent in the four months since July 2011.

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