Droids gone rogue

Security threats from mobile malware are on the rise and nearly 95% of targets operate on the Android operating system, according to a new report from NQ Mobile. The mobile security firm, with headquarters in both the USA and China, estimates that nearly 33 million Android devices were targeted by malware in 2012 - a jump of more than 200% from the year prior. "Android is one of the most powerful operating systems in the world. It allows developers to develop some of the most innovative applications out there," said Omar Khan, Co-CEO of NQ Mobile. "But because it's so open it also gives the opportunity for bad actors in the system to take advantage of that openness to develop malicious applications as well." And that's why I'm glad I have an iPhone. You should dump the zero and get with the hero because Android users can also be duped through so-called "smishing" - a combination of the words SMS and phishing - where a user receives a text message asking for personal information like a credit card number, e-mail address, or social security number. And while personal information is one casualty from malware, personal harm could occur with new programs being developed. Earlier this month, a German hacker - and licensed commercial pilot - raised eyebrows with claims he developed an app that could remotely hijack an airplane using an Android phone. The simplest thing we can do? Put passwords on our phones. Security and encryption solutions are another way to do it. Also educating our consumers and our enterprise users not to connect and leave open wi-fi connections or Bluetooth connections - only connect to trusted sources. A lot of times we'll connect to anything.