Intel-owned McAfee Labs has just published the McAfee Threats Report for the third quarter of 2011. At the end of 2010, the security technology company anticipated there’d be 70 million unique mobile malware samples by the end of 2011… and it’s recently increased its prediction to 75 million unique malware samples, which would make 2011 the busiest year in mobile malware history.
Android remains the primary target for new mobile malware, with Android-specific malware increasing by almost 37% in the quarter. In fact, almost all new mobile malware in Q3 2011 was targeted at Android devices.
McAfee noted that SMS-sending Trojans were popular in Q3, with conversation-recording malware also increasing in popularity on mobile devices.
Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs, said “This has been a very steady quarter in terms of threats, as both general and mobile malware are more prevalent than ever. So far this year, we’ve seen many interesting yet challenging trends that are affecting the threat landscape, including heightened levels of sophistication and high-profile hacktivist attacks.”
[McAfee report (pdf)]