Fears of phone-based malware were stoked in March by word of malware on smartphones based on Google's Android operating system. Fanning the flames are recent reports of dramatic jumps in Android malware from security firms such as Juniper Networks, which said in a blog post that Android malware had increased 472 percent since July.
McAfee, another security company, sounded a similar warning in its latest threat report. "Since January, we've seen a hockey-stick type of growth in Android malware that poses a serious threat to owners of smartphones and tablets," Lianne Caetano, McAfee's director of mobility marketing, told me this week.
Are the fears exaggerated by companies that stand to profit by selling anti-malware apps to worried smartphone and tablet users - not just of Androids, but also of devices using Apple's iOS and RIM's BlackBerry platforms?
That's what Chris DiBona, Google's open-source and public-sector engineering manager, said in a recent post on Google+ that derided antivirus companies as "charlatans and scammers."
"If you work for a company selling virus protection for Android, RIM or iOS you should be ashamed of yourself," DiBona wrote.
I'm not an expert, so I don't want to sound overly sanguine about threats from malware writers who are undoubtedly trying to wreak as much havoc as they can. That's what they do, often with the goal of stealing your money or using your information to rob and cheat others.
Some threats plainly sound scary. McAfee cites two, identified as "NickiSpy.A" and "GoldenEagle.A," that record Android users' conversations and forward them to an attacker. "Attackers can't be sure that the first one or two calls have the information they seek, so these malware remain on the devices for extended periods without being detected," McAfee says.
