STE WILLIAMS

Security threats to mobile devices rose 46 percent last year, with Android and Symbian platforms particularly vulnerable, according to security firm McAfee.

“During the last several years, we have seen a steady growth in the number of threats to mobile,” McAfee said the report. “We also see the direct correlation between device popularity and cybercriminal activity, a trend we expect to surge in 2011.”

Google’s Android operating system, which last quarter overtook Nokia’s Symbian as the maker of the world’s most popular smartphone software, had been targeted by a Trojan virus, called “Geinimi,” which buried itself in applications and games, said the report. Trojan code often destroys data on a device, sometimes while flashing a mocking message on the screen.

Symbian was also targeted by malware called “Zitmo,” developed by criminals running a botnet dubbed “Zeus” that repackaged old commercial spying software.

McAfee warned that botnets, which are networks of devices installed with malware that let criminals control them remotely, will begin to spring up. Devices infected with botnets often have sensitive information like bank account details and passwords stolen from them, or are used for criminal purposes like flooding or hacking.

In order to reduce the risk of devices being hacked, users should apply the same precautions to it when searching the Web or using email on a computer. Among the most basic of these are never opening attachments to emails and not downloading data from any site you are not sure of. Many phone operators also offer spam filters and other security software for free.

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