Separating Fact From Hype On Mobile Malware

wiredmikey writes with this quote from an article about determining whether the recent doom-and-gloom reports about malware on mobile devices are justified: "As twilight approaches for 2011, security vendors have set their gaze on the rise of Android malware during the year and what is ahead. Last week, Juniper Networks entered the fray, declaring the number of malware samples it observed targeting devices running Google Android had shot up nearly 500 percent since July. Today, McAfee released its threats report for the third quarter of the year, which found that the amount of malware targeting Android devices jumped 37 percent since the second quarter. While there is no doubt the amount of malicious programs with Windows in their bull's eye dwarfs the amount of threats to mobile devices, the focus on Android malware have left some wondering how to separate fact from hype."

Comments

Allow users to set permissions?

[Anonymous Coward]

Other than CM, where one can set permissions of apps, the only real way to limit app permissions is with use of DroidWall.

This way, if a game wants the whole world for perms, it might get the ability to call home for high scores, but that is it.

Why the emphasis on percentages?

[DeadCatX2]

500% this, 37% that...

One of the first tricks they teach you in "how to lie with numbers" is to use percentages to inflate otherwise small numbers.

If they want to pimp a percentage, I would love to ask them...what percentage of the Android market share is infected? Somehow I think they wouldn't want to share that number, because all the 0's to the right of the decimal point may call into question exactly how much that very same company's products and services are needed.