One of the world leading anti virus solution providers, Kaspersky has disclosed that the proliferation of mobile phone, which is forecast to reach4.68 billion of which 2.7 billion are smartphone users in 2019 is the reason mobile device security threats are on the rise.
It also attributed this to unsecured Wi-Fi connections, network spoofing, phishing attacks, ransomware, spyware and improper session handling, making the mobile devices easy target.
“So, if you are looking for a target, it certainly makes sense to go where the numbers are. Mobile apps are often the cause of unintentional data leakage,” it says adding that 6 Android apps that were downloaded a staggering 90 million times from the Google Play Store were found to have been loaded with the PreAMo malware.
According to General Manager for Kaspersky in Africa, Riaan Badenhorst, apps pose a real problem for mobile users, who give them sweeping permissions, but don’t always check security.
He argued that these are typically free apps found in official app stores that perform as advertised, but also send personal – and potentially corporate – data to a remote server, where it is mined by advertisers or even cybercriminals. Data leakage can also happen through hostile enterprise-signed mobile apps. Here, mobile malware uses distribution code native to popular mobile operating systems like iOS and Android to spread valuable data across corporate networks without raising red flags.”
According to recent reports, 6 Android apps that were downloaded a staggering 90 million times from the Google Play Store were found to have been loaded with the PreAMo malware, while another recent threat saw 50 malware-filled apps on the Google Play Store infect over 30 million Android devices. Surveillance malware was also loaded onto fake versions of Android apps such as Evernote, Google Play and Skype.
Considering that as of 2019, Android users were able to choose between 2.46 million apps while Apple users have almost 1.96 million app options to select from, and that the average person has 60-90 apps installed on their phone, using around 30 of them each month and launching 9 per day – it’s easy to see how viral apps take several social media channels by storm.
“In this age where users jump onto a bandwagon because it’s fun or trendy, the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) can overshadow basic security habits – like being vigilant on granting app permissions,” says Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa. “In fact, accordingly to a previous Kaspersky study, the majority (63%) of consumers do not read license agreements and 43% just tick all privacy permissions when they are installing new apps on their phone. And this is exactly where the danger lies – as there is certainly ‘no harm’ in joining online challenges or installing new apps.”