There are some cases where it’s good to be known as the top mobile operating system. But there are other cases when it’s a bad thing. And unfortunately for the world’s most popular mobile operating system – Android – it’s not perfect.
Android was recently declared to be the world’s most popular operating system for mobile malware. According to a report by F-Secure, Android accounted for a whopping 79% of all mobile malware threats.
As if that 79% figure wasn’t bad enough, it’s expected to continue rising rapidly over the coming months as Android becomes more and more popular.
The F-Secure report highlighted some interesting data about Android malware threats, including:
-96 new ‘families’ of viruses and malware were discovered in the 4th quarter of 2012, which is twice the number discovered in the previous quarter
-Android malware is constantly evolving and new variants are preventing Android antivirus manufacturers from effectively protecting users
-Many of the viruses are spread through shady SMS schemes
-Mobile viruses can ruin your life and steal banking passwords, social media accounts, and anything else you access over your device
What’s the next most popular operating system for malware?
You might think that iOS would be the next most popular operating system for mobile malware. But that’s not the case. Despite being the world’s second most popular operating system, iOS is relatively safe from malware threats.
Instead, the second most popular operating system for mobile malware is Symbian, Nokia’s homegrown operating system. At 19%, Nokia’s malware popularity level far outshines its actual popularity, since it’s used by less than 2% of global mobile users.
Meanwhile, operating systems like Blackberry, iOS, and Windows Phone each had less than 1% of the mobile malware market.
