17% Of Android Apps Are Malware

As many as 1 in 5 Android apps is filled with malware. Symantec’s most recent Internet Security Threat report says 17% of all Android apps are actually malware and are essentially disguised as real apps. Symantec found 700,000 bad apps in 2013 and now it has found nearly a million. cOne third of apps were also classified as “madware” or “grayware”. Those apps are not technically malicious but they only exist to serve up ads.

Symantec has even found mobile crypto-ransomware that can encrypt your Android phone’s data until you pay a ransom. This may be the first example of that type of software being used to attack Android devices.

The apps examined by Symantec were not solely from the Google Play Store and it is believed most apps on that store are safe. Many people download software from alternative stores and that is where these dangerous apps are found.

Source: Times of India.