Study: 32.8 Million Android Phones Infected with Malware

Do you have an anti-virus app on your Android phone yet? If not, a new study conducted by security firm NQ Mobile suggests you’re playing with fire: The number of malware threats to your Android phone has increased 163% over the past year alone.

The study, which looked at over 5.3 million apps available in 406 different online stores, identified 65,227 different pieces of potentially dangerous malware last year. A quick look at the trend suggests that malware is growing at an exponential rate – there were only 1,649 such malware discoveries in 2009.

In total, 32.8 million Android phones were infected with malware in 2012 – more than triple the number of the year before. The majority of these infections involve spyware or adware, while about a quarter are designed to steal and profit off of your personal data. A smaller minority is designed to make your phone permanently unusable, something we’d all no doubt like to avoid.

Earlier this year, NQ discovered a new type of Android threat: Malware that can spread from your phone to your computer via a USB cord. That particular attack only affected a small handful of Android users. Still, security experts warn that hackers will continue to find these new and inventive ways to steal data, even from the most cautious among us.

Android malware is a rapidly increasing threat, but there are some simple measures you can take to buff up your phone’s security. Be sure to look at the Techlicious guide to mobile security, where we break down some of your best (free!) choices for smartphone anti-virus protection.

http://techland.time.com/2013/04/17/study-32-8-million-android-phones-infected-with-malware/

Yikes! Have Iphone's ever been infected with anything before?

But...open, non-proprietary systems are more secure!!!

I know I dont have any viruses or malware but whats the best free antivirus software for android

Some malware exists, but nothing infectious that I know of.  Last year there was a rogue app that made it onto the App Store, but it could only spread by texting your friends a link to the App Store hoping they would install the app.  Here's a recent article on mobile malware:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/14/apple-enterprise-android-malware/

As you can see, iPhone's exposure to malware is somewhere in the tiny sliver called "Others".

What about jailbroken iPhones?

Well, Google turns up only one genuine malicious worm from 2009 that spread using the default SSH password on jailbroken iPhones that had it installed.  It was Netherland-specific and reportedly infected a few hundred people, but doesn't seem to be very active in 2012.  A successful worm today is not impossible, but it really has its work cut out for it in terms of distribution.  To some extent I guess even the jailbroken iPhones are protected by herd immunity.

Yes.

Oh the Freedom lol

That's ingored in these reports. But people getting apps outside of Google's Play store is not.