Get Safe Online warns of increased threat to smartphones

Get Safe Online has kicked off its annual security awareness week by highlighting the increasing dangers of malicious software designed to infect smartphones and other mobile devices.

The Government and industry sponsored security awareness organisation said that 2011 has been the year that these attacks have "come of age" as criminals spend more time trying to make money from unsuspecting users especially as more people use these devices for online banking and shopping.

With the recent Trend Micro threat study showing that mobile malicious software has grown over 800 per cent in just four months of this year, in its 2011 report, Get Safe Online said "Criminals are driven by consumer behaviour, and as the money-making opportunities move to mobile platforms, fraudsters are following".

According to the latest Ofcom data, over a quarter of adults (27 per cent) and almost half of teenagers (47 per cent) now own a smartphone. The easiest way for criminals to get to their victims is through malicious apps that may mimic genuine games or applications to trick the unwary.

Get Safe Online said that although security software is available for these devices few people use it.  It warned that once a malicious app is downloaded, criminals can then gain access to the victim's phone, enabling them to steal data, send and intercept communication and download further malicious software.

Although not yet an epidemic, one of the criminals' favourite ruses is to fool people into downloading a malicious app, which hijacks the phone and makes money by repeatedly dialling or sending texts to premium rate numbers run by the gangs. The problem for people is these apps hide what is going on and the person is unaware until they get their bill.

Rik Ferguson, Trend Micro's director of security research and communication, said in the Get Safe Online report: "The volume of mobile malware has not yet reached the epidemic proportions of computer-based malware, but criminal interest is clearly there and growing.

"With users now installing and removing apps with increasing frequency, this overall volume means the chance of encountering a rogue app is now higher than ever before."