Smartphone Infections Rise 96% In H1-2016: Malware Study

The first half of 2016 saw a sharp rise in smartphone malware infections, almost double that seen in the second half of 2015, and responsible for 78% of all mobile network infections, says the Nokia Threat Intelligence Report – H1 2016.

April witnessed the highest infection rate with 1.06% of all tracked devices affected and one out of every 120 smartphones attacked by malware which have also increased in sophistication, adds the study.

“Today attackers are targeting a broader range of applications and platforms, including popular mobile games and new IoT devices, and developing more sophisticated and destructive forms of malware,” says Kevin McNamee of Nokia.

The research also came up with three prime mobile malware strains which made up 47% of all attacks – Uapush.A., Kasandra.B and SMSTracker – and a 75% rise in malicious software samples, jumping from 5.1 million in December 2015 to 8.9 million in July of this year.

Read full report here.