More than one third of Android apps have Malware

British Telecommunications, or BT, has been doing some interesting research with Android apps. The security branch of the Telecoms giant has reported that over 1 third of Android apps contain some form of malware.BT bases their statement on tests that the firm itself has conducted, where they examined more than 1,000 Android apps.

According to BT the fact it has discovered so much malware, means that most of the Android devices we use are compromised in some way – so be safe and careful with what kind of data you store and transmit on them. At a security conference the panel moderator pointed out that he had found malware in an application whilst reviewing Samsung’s latest Galaxy S III, with BT’s representatives detailing the company’s findings.

BT didn’t detail where it collected the sample of Apps from. Some think the figure would be significantly lower had BT sourced all 1000 apps from the Google Play Store. But the reality of the scenario is that security on Android devices is a growing problem, and irrelevant of where the malware comes from – it still exists.

BT have urged for increased security throughout the entire mobile computing sector, and have said they’ll be testing other operating systems for malware over the coming months.

How long until we see anti-virus and anti-malware programs become mainstream across mobile devices? An interesting prospect.

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