Mobile Threats, They’re everywhere!!

Threats to your mobile security and privacy are becoming more and more prevalent as smartphones continue to grow in popularity and become a major part of people’s everyday lives.

Where however do these threats come from?  Are they the same across the globe or do they differ between nations?

These are questions that were laid out and answered by mobile security company Lookout whereby, in the first ever report of its type, a deep dive was taken into mobile threat data from the Lookout Platform in five countries (US, UK, Germany, India and Japan) to identify key threats in each region.

The report showed that the threats across the world actually vary significantly depending on location.

Adware is the main threat to security and privacy and consistently appears top across the globe and the likelihood of a new Lookout user having adware on their device comes out at an average of 1.6%.

Second on the global scale is a trojan (a program that appears legitimate but performs illicit activity when run or allows a remote user to take over your device) which has a 0.53% chance of appearing.

Third on the list is chargeware at 0.22% followed by a surveillance program at 0.16%.  Bringing up the rear is spyware at 0.10%

Whilst the figures above are global averages, as already mentioned, these figures vary by location.

In the US for example, whilst Adware is the main threat with a 0.9% incidence rate, it is followed by trojans at 0.35%.  Surveillance is next at 0.24% whilst chargeware occurs on only 0.07% of instances.

India however has a massive problem with Adware with it appearing on 3.8% of installs, followed by trojans at 0.74% and chargeware at 0.49%.  Surveillance and spyware came in at 0.24 and 0.22% of devices respectively.

Lookout say:

While an individual’s chance of encountering a mobile threat is still relatively low, it’s important to identify the types of emerging threats and how they vary in likelihood around the world, providing a better sense of how the bad actors are experimenting.

The infographic below shows the exact breakdown by region and details the differences (click on it for a larger more readable view!).

Mobile Threats, Theyre everywhere!!

As always, the answer is protection with a program such as Lookout as well as having awareness of your mobile environment, be it when you’re talking, texting, downloading or clicking on links.