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10 years later, mobile malware more of a threat than ever

Ten years ago, the first piece of mobile malware infected smartphones. Called Cabir, it was a worm that spread via Bluetooth, according to Trend Micro's "Brief History of Mobile Malware." The malware was developed by a coder simply to show that smartphones were susceptible to attack. Far from malicious, this "proof of concept" malware simply led to the word "Cabir" appearing on smartphone screens. However, that proof of concept paved the way for a string of malware attacks, and the problem is more severe now than ever.

In "celebration" of the tenth anniversary of mobile malware, Fortinet released a retrospective look at the malicious mobile attacks that followed Cabir. Here are some highlights that serve as reminders that encryption is just as important for mobile devices as it is for computers:

CommWarrior (2005): CommWarrior was the first self-perpetuating piece of mobile malware, hacking into a phone's address book and attempting to send itself to everyone listed. The virus quickly spread across 18 countries and found its way into 115,000 phones. Because the virus sent itself via MMS, it led to the incursion of fees for those infected.

RedBrowser (2006): This virus was able to go through Java as opposed to the device's OS, which made it easier to spread. Transcending specific phone types, this was the first piece of malware that had the potential to infect phones across the board. Unlike CommWarrior, RedBrowser focused its attack on SMS services, attempting to charge owners $5 per SMS.

Zitmo (2010): Zitmo broke into truly malicious territory by launching an attack on online banking transactions. It was followed not long after that by DroidKungFu (2011), which took the idea of an insidious attack a step further by introducing malware that commandeered the administration of the phone. It also attacked Androids.

Mobile malware attacks have only strengthened in sophistication and numbers over the years. In 2013 an estimated 1,300 new malware applications emerged per day.

Protect your data by looking into your encryption options today.

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