Once mobile malware becomes lucrative to its makers, it will move from its current position as a rare niche into a widespread and dangerous problem says Finnish security IT firm F-Secure.
Speaking to press at a recent tour of its headquarters in association with the Mobile Monday 10-year Summit, F-Secure said PC viruses still far outflanked their younger, less-sophisticated mobile brothers, but that this could change rapidly if and when malware makers discovered how to make the same “mega bucks” from their practice as they currently make exploiting computer security.
The first instance of mobile malware appeared in 2004, according to F-Secure, which explained that today some 517 viruses, worms and Trojans slithered their way across the mobile platform, although exploit-based malware had yet to surface.
Sure, said F-Secure, there were still 2,000 to 4,000 malicious files that can be opened on mobiles, but those were fundamentally different to viruses. Besides, mobile viruses are still in such early stages that more serious security risks to phone users are actually theft and loss of the physical device itself.
“It’s all about money,” said Jarno Nimel
Mobile malware will increase once crooks figure how to profit from it
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