Survey finds smartphones increasingly targeted by malware

Malware has increasingly struck at smartphones in the past year, most of it targeting Google's Android operating system, a U.S. networking firm said Wednesday. As reported in a survey by networking technology company Juniper Networks, mobile malware increased six-fold from March 2012 through March 2013, with 92 percent of the attacks targeting phones running Google's Android operating system. The numbers show increasing interest by cyber criminals in exploiting mobile devices, a Juniper release said. Android is a target because it dominates the global smartphone arena with around 75 percent of the market, Juniper said, and the open platform nature of the operating system makes it more prone to attacks. "Android does not have as rigorous a vetting system" as rival platforms such as Apple's iOS and BlackBerry, Karim Toubba, a Juniper vice president, said. "But the reality is that all the operating systems have vulnerabilities." While some malware finds its way into official channels such as Google Play and the Apple App Store, third-party vendors have much more problems with malware, Toubba said. "These marketplaces are popular targets which provide little to no review process," he said.