There has been a sharp rise in the occurrence of smartphone malware infections in the first half of the year.
This is according to a Nokia report: Nokia Threat Intelligence Report - H1 2016, which is issued twice a year and examines general trends and statistics for malware infections in devices connected through mobile and fixed networks.
The report says Android continues to be the main mobile platform targeted, but iOS-based malware was also targeted, particularly in the form of Spyphone applications.
According to analysts, ransomware is one of the biggest malware threats at the moment, with most of this malware being developed for the Android operating system.
More smartphones running on Android increase the mobile malware threat as users are more prone to being scammed into downloading the latest ransomware app, says DFIR Labs.
Ransomware guys make good money so these types of security threats will continue to evolve as more people get lower-end smartphones, it adds.
Trend Micro research shows that in January, SA had a total malicious mobile app download of 40 734 and the virus count was 511.
In February, the total count and virus count went down to 37 470 and 456 respectively, and in March, the numbers spiked again with the total malicious mobile app downloads totalling 55 646 and the virus count sitting at 954, it adds.
The Nokia study says the average monthly infection rate among smartphones increased to 0.49% in the first half of 2016, adding this is a 98% increase from the 0.25% in the second half of 2015.
The average monthly infection rate for all mobile devices, including smartphones, Windows PCs and other devices increased to 0.66%, explains the report.
The study says after years of steady growth, the monthly infection rate has varied considerably since 2015.
It notes that in 2016, it rose steeply to a new high of 1.06% in April, before returning to more normal levels.
The sharp increase in April was due to a significant increase in smartphone infections involving the Kasandra, SMSTracker and UaPush Android trojans, says the report.
"This year has certainly seen the introduction of mobile malware that is considerably more sophisticated than what's been there before. A common theme is the attempt to root the phone in order to provide complete control and establish a permanent presence on the device.
In addition, the mobile game Pokémon Go is also an unprecedented malware opportunity, with millions of active daily users, says the report.
The Nokia Threat Intelligence Lab detected malware-infected copies of the game on untrusted third-party Web sites within hours of launch, it adds.
Kevin McNamee, head of the Nokia Threat Intelligence Lab, says today attackers are targeting a broader range of applications and platforms, including popular mobile games and new IOT devices, and developing more sophisticated and destructive forms of malware.
According to McAfee report, historically mobile malware has been something of an afterthought for cyber criminals with most of their efforts focused on PC. However, it says over the last year, there has been a dramatic increase in not only the number of new malware, but the sophistication and complexity of mobile malware.
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