NEW YORK—The number of malicious apps discovered in 2019 rose to 98,000, up from 63,000 in 2018, according to a new report.
These 98,000 malicious apps had infected 43 million Android devices, according to a study by Upstream.
With Android devices now accounting for an estimate 75%-85% of all smartphone sales worldwide Android is by far the most dominant mobile OS, Help Net Security noted.
“At the same time it is the most vulnerable due to its open nature, making it a favorite playground for fraudsters. While it is always a good rule of thumb for consumers to only download mobile applications from Google's official storefront, Google Play, thanks to its scale and set up, rogue apps are still getting through its defenses,” Help Net Security stated.