Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

99% of mobile malware targeted Android devices last year

Published Jan 21st, 2014 11:44AM EST
Android Mobile Malware Report

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

The good news is that mobile malware is still a very small portion of overall malware in the world. The bad news is that if it does grow in prevalence then it’s much more likely to hurt Android devices. Cisco’s annual security report claims that 99% of all mobile malware targeted Android devices last year, although the firm also notes that such malware only made up around 1.2% of all web malware encounters in all of 2013. That doesn’t mean that Android users should be entirely comfortable, however, because Cisco also says that “Android users, at 71%, have the highest encounter rates with all forms of web-delivered malware,” which Cisco says can include “phishing, likejacking, or other social engineering ruses, or forcible redirects to websites other than expected.” iPhone users, in contrast, accounted for just 14% of all web-delivered malware encounters.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.