According to a recent study from Trend Micro, between 2012 and 2013 the number of mobile malware and high-risk apps more than doubled to 1.4 million, and the number nearly tripled in 2014 - to 4.3 million malicious Android applications.
There were also a handful of iOS malware reported in 2014, but the count did not exceed the single digits for any month of the year. The number of mobile applications related to banking or finance grew from about a dozen at the start of 2013 to a peak of more than 2,000 in 2014.
Findings indicate that the total number of phishing websites increased 89% in 2014, from 1.98 million in 2013 to 3.74 million in 2014, as a result of cheap domain registrations and ready-made website templates. The number of computers infected with ransomware worldwide also dropped in 2014, from 84,000 in 2013 to 48,000.
However, crypto-ransomware infections increased more than seven-fold, from 2,000 to 15,000. The report also shows an increase in point of sale malware. And retailers are no longer the sole PoS system breach targets, as attackers also turned their sights on hotels, restaurants, and parking lots among others.
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