Android malware numbers are staggering!

[Nibiru2012]

From: Tweaktown 3-8-2013 by Anthony Garreffa

Android malware numbers are staggering, with the OS accounting for 79% of all mobile malware in 2012

According to F-Secure, a security firm, Android accounted for 79% of all mobile malware in 2012. This is an increase of 66.7% and 11.25% for 2011 and 2010, respectively.
Apple's iOS doesn't even attempt to come close to these numbers, and only accounted for 0.7% of mobile malware in 2012.
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Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian all entered the pie with much less than Android, with 0.3%, 0.3% and 19%, for Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian, respectively. The security firm also discovered that Android saw a surge in malware at the end of the year, but most of the malware is found in emerging markets. This means that most, not all, people in Europe and the US won't be affected, but everyone should always play it safe when opening up messages, links and emails.

SOURCE: Android malware numbers are staggering, with the OS accounting for 79% of all mobile malware in 2012 :: TweakTown
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[SEMIJim]

Months ago I first saw a comment along the lines of "Android is the new Windows." That was not a complement. It was in reference to Android-based devices' instability and malware susceptibility. With about a year-and-a-half with an Android tablet: I can testify to the former. Given my brief experience with a Samsung Android-based offering: I can certainly see why the latter is true. Now take this news item, and couple it with two of the things I've seen at the top of this site's "Active Topics" listing in the last two days: A note about Clean Master and about CCleaner coming to the Android platform. Shades of MS-Win!

All of this is one reason we still don't own "smart" phones. I would be the driving force behind such a move, and I'm just not interested. There's no way I'd have a MS-Win device. Apple... well, I just don't care for the Apple environment. And Android? I need a hand-held device to which I can trust my digital keyring and, quite honestly, I would not trust a network-connected Android device any further than I trust a network-connected MS-Win PC. (I never use a MS-Win PC for anything sensitive.)

I had planned to buy a new 10" tablet sometime soon. Was just waiting for the Right Tablet to appear. But now I'm even beginning to seriously question whether I want to trust an Android tablet to even casual use.

Jim