New report finds Android, Symbian are malware favourites

If the report released by a certain security vendor based in China, Qihoo 360 is anything to go by, then Android and Symbian, at least in China are the most susceptible to malware. Elaborating further on this research, the report stated that Android, as a platform is gaining prominence in China, and users are increasingly moving their base to Android. This popularity, the report adds has introduced 968 fresh malware and trojans to the platform, a number insanely higher than the initial 12, making the Android platform a “malware hotspot”. The number of those affected by the malware also jumped to 1.18 million, it was learnt from the report.

Threatening.. (Image credit:  Getty Images)

However, the report suggested that in between Android and Symbian, the latter was found to be even more vulnerable to malware, as over 60 percent of the new malware seemed to prefer the Nokia OS over Android. So while the number of users with affected malware handsets on the Android platform rose to 1.18 million, those with affected Symbian handsets were around 12.1 million. Also, better technology at one's disposal meant that the ways and methods used by cybercriminals had also undergone some change. Now, an infected handset meants one with its entire system damaged, and/or compromised and with users storing private data on their smartphones, in addition to their financial details, the final picture just got scarier.