On 15th november 2011, Google’s mobile operating system Android reached 52.5% of the global smartphone market share. And with it an almost sixfold increase in malware threats.
Gartner's share of worldwide 2011 Q2 smartphones sold to end-users by operating system.
Fortinet numbers show an increase of 83% for malware creation in 2011 compared to 2010 even though the end of the year has not been reached.
Number of distinct Android samples received by Fortinet in 2011
The Top 5 malware families, in the number of variants, accounting for nearly half of Android malware found in 2011 include:
- Geinimi: Android’s first botnet.
- Hongtoutou: A trojan wallpaper which steals IMEI and IMSI and includes an update feature.
- DroidKungFu: Another botnet stealing private information.
- JiFake: Fake Jimm (instant messenger) application which sends SMS messages to premium numbers.
- BaseBridge: A trojan that sends SMS messages to premium numbers.
The main threats include information stealing and financial harm as cyber-criminals try to make money out of these malware.
It should be noted these malware are usually downloaded via the Android Market, either trying to pass as a legitimate application, but can be also found within legitimate application they have infected. A good example is Geinimi which could be found within the legitimate application “Sex Positions” and was downloaded more than 1 million times.
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