PARIS, Sept. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcatel-Lucent
(Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today released new data showing that
security threats to mobile and residential devices jumped sharply
during the first half of 2014, putting device owners at increased
risk of being spied on, having personal information stolen, or
experiencing 'bill shock' as result of pirated data usage.
Figures for the first half of 2014 from Alcatel-Lucent's
Kindsight Security Labs reveals that malicious software or
'malware' used by hackers to gain access to devices continues to
rise with consumer ultra-broadband usage. Its report found that
mobile malware infections increased 17 percent during the first six
months of 2014, growing at nearly double the rate seen for the
entirety of 2013. Similarly, residential infections in fixed
networks jumped to 18 percent at the end of June, after being 9
percent in December 2013.
Due to Alcatel-Lucent's unique position within networks, it can
measure the impact of traffic types traversing the network,
including malicious and cyber-security threats.
The mobile infection rate was 0.65 percent during the first half
of 2014, compared to 0.55 at the end of 2013. Based on this,
Kindsight Security Labs estimates 15 million mobile devices are
infected with malware, up from 11.3 million at the end of 2013.
Android devices accounted for 60 percent of total mobile network
infections. Forty percent of mobile malware originated from
Windows™ laptops connected to a phone or connected directly through
a mobile USB stick or MIFI hub. Infections on iPhone®
devices and BlackBerry® devices made up less than 1 percent.
"Android smartphones are the easiest malware target, but Windows
laptops are still the favorite of hard core professional
cybercriminals," said Kevin McNamee,
security architect and director of Alcatel-Lucent's Kindsight
Security Labs. "The quality and sophistication of most Android
malware is still behind the more mature Windows PC varieties.
Android malware makes no serious effort to conceal itself and
relies on unsuspecting people to install an infected app."
Mobile network infections frequently took the form of trojanized
applications which look fine on the surface but contain hidden
malware that when downloaded by Android owners from third party app
stores, Google Play™ Store or by phishing scams can steal personal
information on one's phone or send SMS messages and browse the
web.
The rise in 2014 residential infection rates is primarily
attributed to moderate threat level adware, which primarily poses
an annoyance for device owners such as unwanted ads or sub par
device performance. However, high level malware threats that can do
serious damage by stealing personal information, passwords and
credit card information also experienced a modest gain. Seven
percent of broadband residential customers were infected with
high-level threats: up from 5 percent at the end of 2013.
The Kindsight Security Labs report also includes the top 20 home
and Internet malware threats in the first six months of 2014, as
well as analysis of malware developments, including ZeroAccess,
iBryte, Carberp, Uapush, Coogos, NotCompatible, SMS Tracker and
others. High level malware threats comprised 85% of the threats
found on the Top 20 Android List, where four instances are mobile
spyware used by an attacker to remotely track and monitor a device
owner's location, communications and browser history. Five of the
seven new malware entries in the Residential Top 20 List are adware
which can redirect a victim's browser to undesirable web sites and
create unwanted pop-up ads.
"The best defense against infection is network-based malware
detection," adds McNamee. "People frequently don't take appropriate
security precautions for their devices, and even when they do a
malicious app can easily evade detection by device-based
anti-virus. Network based anti-virus embedded on an operator's
network cannot be disabled by cybercriminals, is always on and up
to date."
Helpful links:
- Kindsight Security Labs Malware Report – 1H 2014
- Blog: Privacy of unwitting mobile device owners is
increasingly being invaded by commercial mobile malware
ABOUT ALCATEL-LUCENT (EURONEXT PARIS AND NYSE: ALU)
We are at the forefront of global communications, providing
products and innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as
ultra-broadband fixed and wireless access to service providers and
their customers, and to enterprises and institutions throughout the
world. Underpinning us in driving the industrial transformation
from voice telephony to high-speed digital delivery of data, video
and information is Bell Labs, an
integral part of the Group and one of the world's foremost
technology research institutes, responsible for countless
breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications
industry. Our innovations have resulted in our Group being
recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Top 100 Global Innovator, as
well as being named by MIT Technology Review as amongst 2012's Top
50 "World's Most Innovative Companies". We have also been
recognized for innovation in sustainability, being named Industry
Group Leader in the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector in
the 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices review, for making global
communications more sustainable, affordable and accessible, all in
pursuit of the Group's mission to realize the potential of a
connected world.
With revenues of Euro 14.4 billion
in 2013, Alcatel-Lucent is listed on the Paris and New
York stock exchanges (Euronext and NYSE: ALU). The company
is incorporated in France and
headquartered in Paris.
For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the
Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow
the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.
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