Protect Your Android Phone from App Attacks

If you use an Android phone, please take this advice­—now

For your protection, never buy apps from any discount sellers and always use a malware or security scanner to weed out problems with software before an infection can occur, according to a new report from G Data Security Labs.

For recommended malware scanning software, check out this list from Android Authority.

Also, be careful when it comes to giving permission for any app to access your personal information. Not all apps need access to all of your info, so don’t automatically approve every request.

Research from G Data Security Labs says that data on Android phones or tablets can be vulnerable to almost 4,900 new malware files that are introduced every day.

“The report suggests that Android devices are becoming a bigger target for the bad guys and more profitable than in previous years,” said Andy Hayter, security evangelist for G Data.

Two Million Threats Ahead

G Data Security Labs says the number of new malware strains jumped 6.4 percent to 440,000 in the first three months of 2015 from the fourth quarter of 2014. An estimated 2 million new malware strains are expected for all of 2015.

Some of the most dangerous threats target financial information.

“The use of smartphones and tablets for online banking is increasing rapidly. With its dominant market position, the Android operating system in particular is coming to the attention of cyber criminals,” said Christian Geschkat, G DATA Mobile Solutions Product Manager.

“Hence it is no surprise that attackers are developing and distributing financial malware such as banking Trojans especially for this platform,” Geschkat said. “As such, we are expecting a significant increase in financially motivated malware for the Android operating system this year.”

Keep your app purchases confined to the Google Play store or a Google-approved vendor, and you should be OK, but don’t ever let your guard down or assume a piece of software is safe until it’s been tested.