By: Linda Rosencrance, Security News Daily
Google's Android smartphone platform has taken off like a rocket, winning more than half the global smartphone market share only three years after it was first introduced. But hitching a ride on that rocket are malware writers, who've been having a grand time exploiting the open-source, lightly supervised platform — especially in the past year.
In fact, there was a 472 percent jump in Android malware from July 2011 to Nov. 10, 2011, according to the routing-hardware maker Juniper Networks. Android attackers spent the year becoming much more sophisticated about the malware they created.
Android's open model means anyone can create an app, and apps can be installed from anywhere. But this has created an ideal delivery model for cybercriminals, who inject Trojan horses — malware hidden inside otherwise benign software — into legitimate-looking apps and put them on the open market, often as free downloads.