What amazes me is that I always assumed the official Google Play Store itself was free of malware (or very nearly, comparable to Apple). So you're safe if you avoid third-party sources.
But apparently that was never true!
Follow the money: malware writers are doing this because it works.
Search for "android botnet" for a fun time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snova
hit rate for use of third party app stores would not make it worth their time to write malware.
According to the most recent real data the rate of actual malware infection from Google Play apps is only .001% which is probably not far off from Apple's App Store.
.001 /100 * number of apps * number of Android or iOS users who download it ? I'm thinking that is still a heck of a lot of people affected. right?
regardless, as I said above. If the hit rate was low it would not make it worth their time to write malware. Writing malware is business. No opportunity, no money, no interest. Obviously, that's not the case. All it would take would be 1 popular app that gets downloaded a heck of a lot of time to make it worth while. I think we can agree 1 is many many magnitudes smaller than .001%. Yet if marketed correctly to go viral is enough.
There are numerous valid reasons why one would also choose BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. For that matter, flip phones too.
not sure why you can't agree with Stupidity (and intelligence) is rampant everywhere. We got Intelligence and lack there of (stupidity). What not to agree with here? The glass is full, empty, partially full or partially empty. I guess you could have no glass at all.
I do agree with "stupidity and intelligence are rampant everywhere" which is why I made those two bulleted statements to counter the OP's blanket statement suggesting Android users are stupid.
There are numerous valid reasons why one would also choose BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. For that matter, flip phones too.
not sure why you can't agree with Stupidity (and intelligence) is rampant everywhere. We got Intelligence and lack there of (stupidity). What not to agree with here? The glass is full, empty, partially full or partially empty. I guess you could have no glass at all.
I do agree with "stupidity and intelligence are rampant everywhere" which is why I made those two bulleted statements to counter the OP's blanket statement suggesting Android users are stupid.
According to the most recent real data the rate of actual malware infection from Google Play apps is only .001% which is probably not far off from Apple's App Store.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
The last part of your supposition has no relationship to the first part and flies in the face of all published reports. It's interesting that even the non-Apple store for jail-broken iPhones has only had one malware app get through the system. Your statement is so full of holes as to call into question your basic credibility.
According to the most recent real data the rate of actual malware infection from Google Play apps is only .001% which is probably not far off from Apple's App Store.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
The last part of your supposition has no relationship to the first part and flies in the face of all published reports. It's interesting that even the non-Apple store for jail-broken iPhones has only had one malware app get through the system. Your statement is so full of holes as to call into question your basic credibility.
to be fair. The .001% figure is Google's estimate of malware that they missed. Not Gatorguys. Kind of an interesting estimate and makes me wonder what dark place they pulled it out of. If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, is it counted?
then again, same can be said for Mac OS X. All it takes is 1, like the "Flashback". If I was in the malware business, I would definately pick the market with the best opportunity for success. Windows and Android would be at the top of the list.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
Umm.. 0.001% means 0.001% chance regardless of the number of apps - not "approaches 100%". That's why it's a percentage.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
Umm.. 0.001% means 0.001% chance regardless of the number of apps - not "approaches 100%". That's why it's a percentage.
is that what percentage means. I could have sworn it meant parts per hundred. So if I have an app store with 1 malware app in it (say as popular as Facebook or flappy bird) in terms of downloads per day, the chance it will infect someone is once every how often?
is that what percentage means. I could have sworn it meant parts per hundred. So if I have an app store with 1 app in it, the chance it will infect someone is once every how often?
To answer your question, the chance someone is in infected depends on whether it can circumvent the system. Just because the single app contains malware does not mean it will bypass security protocols.
However, the situation Macky the Mack presented is different than yours. He's saying there are thousands of malware containing apps in the play store based on 0,001% of some x millions of apps. And because there are thousands of these apps in the store, the likelihood of them being downloaded nears 100% because there are "thousands" of them. It's thousands out of millions of apps, so the chance of encountering a malware app is still 0.001% even though there are "thousands" of malware containing apps in the store.
edit: And no, it's not parts per hundred. It's parts per population (or sample size).
is that what percentage means. I could have sworn it meant parts per hundred. So if I have an app store with 1 app in it, the chance it will infect someone is once every how often?
To answer your question, the chance someone is in infected depends on whether it can circumvent the system. Just because the single app contains malware does not mean it will bypass security protocols.
However, the situation Macky the Mack presented is different than yours. He's saying there are thousands of malware containing apps in the play store based on 0,001% of some x millions of apps. And because there are thousands of these apps in the store, the likelihood of them being downloaded nears 100% because there are "thousands" of them. It's thousands out of millions of apps, so the chance of encountering a malware app is still 0.001% even though there are "thousands" of malware containing apps in the store.
edit: And no, it's not parts per hundred. It's parts per population (or sample size).
The word "percent" is derived from the Latin per centum meaning "by the hundred".[2] The percent sign evolved by gradual contraction of the Italian term per cento, meaning "for a hundred". The "per" was often abbreviated as "p." and eventually disappeared entirely. The "cento" was contracted to two circles separated by a horizontal line from which the modern "%" is derived.[3]
The word "percent" is derived from the Latin per centum meaning "by the hundred".[2] The percent sign evolved by gradual contraction of the Italian term per cento, meaning "for a hundred". The "per" was often abbreviated as "p." and eventually disappeared entirely. The "cento" was contracted to two circles separated by a horizontal line from which the modern "%" is derived.[3]
Yes I retract my statement. I thought about it some more and by definition it's parts per hundred.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
It's not .001 percent of apps may cause harm, it's .001 percent of app installations. 1 in every 100,000 downloads is unlikely to see the average user ever affected and certainly not 100% of them. If you're curious and want to know how apps originating outside of Google Play affect the rate of harm it does rise. . . to .12%. Double the figures if you think Google is lying and it's still a tiny amount. http://qz.com/131436/contrary-to-what-youve-heard-android-is-almost-impenetrable-to-malware/
As for only a single instance of an iPhone app with malware I'm not going to get into that and distract from what we were already discussing, but a 5 minute search found more than a single instance just at Cydia (there are other unofficial app sources for iPhones too), some very recently.
It's not .001 percent of apps may cause harm, it's .001 percent of app installations.
sorry, but this still does not make much sense. Why does it matter how many times an app is downloaded. If you download the same app w/o malware present 100,000 times you expect to get a malware in one of those times? If you download an app with malware present just once, you don't expect to be infected? What kind of funny math is this?
Wouldn't these percentage numbers be based on if the malware was linked to popular downloaded or not and if it was ever detected to be counted correctly? Sorry, but sounds like someone is trying way too hard to come up with a convoluted equation out of a dark place trying to come up with a equation that could yield a favorable result. Meanwhile, someone is getting rich writing malware for mobile devices.
as I said before. All it takes is 1 popular app with undetected malware, downloaded a billion times to throw this .001% figure out the window.
sorry, but this still does not make much sense. Why does it matter how many times an app is downloaded. If you download the same app w/o malware present 100,000 times you expect to get a malware in one of those times? If you download an app with malware present just once, you don't expect to be infected? What kind of funny math is this?
Wouldn't these percentage numbers be based on if the malware was linked to popular downloaded or not and if it was ever detected to be counted correctly? Sorry, but sounds like someone is trying way to hard to come up with a convoluted equation out of a dark place trying to come up with a meaningful equation. Meanwhile, someone is getting rich writing malware for mobile devices.
sorry, but this still does not make much sense. Why does it matter how many times an app is downloaded. If you download the same app w/o malware present 100,000 times you expect to get a malware in one of those times? If you download an app with malware present just once, you don't expect to be infected? What kind of funny math is this?
Wouldn't these percentage numbers be based on if the malware was linked to popular downloaded or not and if it was ever detected to be counted correctly? Sorry, but sounds like someone is trying way to hard to come up with a convoluted equation out of a dark place trying to come up with a meaningful equation. Meanwhile, someone is getting rich writing malware for mobile devices.
I'm sorry but I've no idea what you're saying so I don't really have a response other than a suggestion for you to read the article I previously linked. Perhaps that might help answer your questions. From your tone I don't think you've actually read it yet.
It's not .001 percent of apps may cause harm, it's .001 percent of app installations. 1 in every 100,000 downloads is unlikely to see the average user ever affected and certainly not 100% of them. If you're curious and want to know how apps originating outside of Google Play affect the rate of harm it does rise. . . to .12%. Double the figures if you think Google is lying and it's still a tiny amount. http://qz.com/131436/contrary-to-what-youve-heard-android-is-almost-impenetrable-to-malware/
As for only a single instance of an iPhone app with malware I'm not going to get into that and distract from what we were already discussing, but a 5 minute search found more than a single instance just at Cydia (there are other unofficial app sources for iPhones too), some very recently.
It's estimated that there were 1.2 billion (smart phones) users of mobile apps at the end of 2012 (1). It's also estimated that the annual growth rate is 29% (1). That suggests that there are approximately 1.548 billion phones at the end of 2013.
It is also estimated that the average smartphone user has downloaded and installed 26 apps (2). (Mashable suggests that number is 25.)
These numbers imply that there are approximately 40.248 billion installed apps world wide. If only .001% of installations are malware, there there must be 402,480 malware apps installed (40.248 billion X .00001) worldwide. Dividing by 26, that suggests there are only 15,480 affected users (on average)
Why are we worrying about 15.5 thousand users out of 1.5 billion?
Or, put another way, perhaps the infection rate is misleading...
Comments
What amazes me is that I always assumed the official Google Play Store itself was free of malware (or very nearly, comparable to Apple). So you're safe if you avoid third-party sources.
But apparently that was never true!
Follow the money: malware writers are doing this because it works.
Search for "android botnet" for a fun time.
hit rate for use of third party app stores would not make it worth their time to write malware.
According to the most recent real data the rate of actual malware infection from Google Play apps is only .001% which is probably not far off from Apple's App Store.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-says-less-than-.001-of-Android-malware-evades-Google-Play-security-to-cause-harm_id47960
.001 /100 * number of apps * number of Android or iOS users who download it ? I'm thinking that is still a heck of a lot of people affected. right?
regardless, as I said above. If the hit rate was low it would not make it worth their time to write malware. Writing malware is business. No opportunity, no money, no interest. Obviously, that's not the case. All it would take would be 1 popular app that gets downloaded a heck of a lot of time to make it worth while. I think we can agree 1 is many many magnitudes smaller than .001%. Yet if marketed correctly to go viral is enough.
Well thieves will avoid the house with the sign. They'll attempt to break into the house without the sign before being scared off.
Unfortunately malware doesn't check for a security sign before attempting to circumvent a system.
I can't agree with this comment at all.
There are numerous valid reasons why one would also choose BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. For that matter, flip phones too.
I do agree with "stupidity and intelligence are rampant everywhere" which is why I made those two bulleted statements to counter the OP's blanket statement suggesting Android users are stupid.
There are numerous valid reasons why one would also choose BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. For that matter, flip phones too.
not sure why you can't agree with Stupidity (and intelligence) is rampant everywhere. We got Intelligence and lack there of (stupidity). What not to agree with here? The glass is full, empty, partially full or partially empty. I guess you could have no glass at all.
I do agree with "stupidity and intelligence are rampant everywhere" which is why I made those two bulleted statements to counter the OP's blanket statement suggesting Android users are stupid.
yep. misread it. sorry.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
The last part of your supposition has no relationship to the first part and flies in the face of all published reports. It's interesting that even the non-Apple store for jail-broken iPhones has only had one malware app get through the system. Your statement is so full of holes as to call into question your basic credibility.
According to the most recent real data the rate of actual malware infection from Google Play apps is only .001% which is probably not far off from Apple's App Store.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
The last part of your supposition has no relationship to the first part and flies in the face of all published reports. It's interesting that even the non-Apple store for jail-broken iPhones has only had one malware app get through the system. Your statement is so full of holes as to call into question your basic credibility.
to be fair. The .001% figure is Google's estimate of malware that they missed. Not Gatorguys. Kind of an interesting estimate and makes me wonder what dark place they pulled it out of. If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, is it counted?
then again, same can be said for Mac OS X. All it takes is 1, like the "Flashback". If I was in the malware business, I would definately pick the market with the best opportunity for success. Windows and Android would be at the top of the list.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
Umm.. 0.001% means 0.001% chance regardless of the number of apps - not "approaches 100%". That's why it's a percentage.
First off, .001% of millions of apps means thousands are getting through the process. So, with thousands getting through the likely of a regular Google store shopper downloading malware approaches 100%. This doesn't even factor in the natural gullibility of an Android device purchaser.
Umm.. 0.001% means 0.001% chance regardless of the number of apps - not "approaches 100%". That's why it's a percentage.
is that what percentage means. I could have sworn it meant parts per hundred. So if I have an app store with 1 malware app in it (say as popular as Facebook or flappy bird) in terms of downloads per day, the chance it will infect someone is once every how often?
is that what percentage means. I could have sworn it meant parts per hundred. So if I have an app store with 1 app in it, the chance it will infect someone is once every how often?
To answer your question, the chance someone is in infected depends on whether it can circumvent the system. Just because the single app contains malware does not mean it will bypass security protocols.
However, the situation Macky the Mack presented is different than yours. He's saying there are thousands of malware containing apps in the play store based on 0,001% of some x millions of apps. And because there are thousands of these apps in the store, the likelihood of them being downloaded nears 100% because there are "thousands" of them. It's thousands out of millions of apps, so the chance of encountering a malware app is still 0.001% even though there are "thousands" of malware containing apps in the store.
edit: And no, it's not parts per hundred. It's parts per population (or sample size).
is that what percentage means. I could have sworn it meant parts per hundred. So if I have an app store with 1 app in it, the chance it will infect someone is once every how often?
To answer your question, the chance someone is in infected depends on whether it can circumvent the system. Just because the single app contains malware does not mean it will bypass security protocols.
However, the situation Macky the Mack presented is different than yours. He's saying there are thousands of malware containing apps in the play store based on 0,001% of some x millions of apps. And because there are thousands of these apps in the store, the likelihood of them being downloaded nears 100% because there are "thousands" of them. It's thousands out of millions of apps, so the chance of encountering a malware app is still 0.001% even though there are "thousands" of malware containing apps in the store.
edit: And no, it's not parts per hundred. It's parts per population (or sample size).
Percent sign[edit]
The word "percent" is derived from the Latin per centum meaning "by the hundred".[2] The percent sign evolved by gradual contraction of the Italian term per cento, meaning "for a hundred". The "per" was often abbreviated as "p." and eventually disappeared entirely. The "cento" was contracted to two circles separated by a horizontal line from which the modern "%" is derived.[3]
Percent does indeed mean per hundred. Cent is 100 as in century, so per 'cent' means per hundred.
Percent sign[edit]
The word "percent" is derived from the Latin per centum meaning "by the hundred".[2] The percent sign evolved by gradual contraction of the Italian term per cento, meaning "for a hundred". The "per" was often abbreviated as "p." and eventually disappeared entirely. The "cento" was contracted to two circles separated by a horizontal line from which the modern "%" is derived.[3]
Yes I retract my statement. I thought about it some more and by definition it's parts per hundred.
It's actually self defining.
It's actually self defining.
Yes, it's self defining but is only because someone defined it that way,
It's not .001 percent of apps may cause harm, it's .001 percent of app installations. 1 in every 100,000 downloads is unlikely to see the average user ever affected and certainly not 100% of them. If you're curious and want to know how apps originating outside of Google Play affect the rate of harm it does rise. . . to .12%. Double the figures if you think Google is lying and it's still a tiny amount.
http://qz.com/131436/contrary-to-what-youve-heard-android-is-almost-impenetrable-to-malware/
As for only a single instance of an iPhone app with malware I'm not going to get into that and distract from what we were already discussing, but a 5 minute search found more than a single instance just at Cydia (there are other unofficial app sources for iPhones too), some very recently.
It's not .001 percent of apps may cause harm, it's .001 percent of app installations.
sorry, but this still does not make much sense. Why does it matter how many times an app is downloaded. If you download the same app w/o malware present 100,000 times you expect to get a malware in one of those times? If you download an app with malware present just once, you don't expect to be infected? What kind of funny math is this?
Wouldn't these percentage numbers be based on if the malware was linked to popular downloaded or not and if it was ever detected to be counted correctly? Sorry, but sounds like someone is trying way too hard to come up with a convoluted equation out of a dark place trying to come up with a equation that could yield a favorable result. Meanwhile, someone is getting rich writing malware for mobile devices.
as I said before. All it takes is 1 popular app with undetected malware, downloaded a billion times to throw this .001% figure out the window.
I'm sorry but I've no idea what you're saying so I don't really have a response other than a suggestion for you to read the article I previously linked. Perhaps that might help answer your questions. From your tone I don't think you've actually read it yet.
http://qz.com/131436/contrary-to-what-youve-heard-android-is-almost-impenetrable-to-malware/
sorry, but this still does not make much sense. Why does it matter how many times an app is downloaded. If you download the same app w/o malware present 100,000 times you expect to get a malware in one of those times? If you download an app with malware present just once, you don't expect to be infected? What kind of funny math is this?
Wouldn't these percentage numbers be based on if the malware was linked to popular downloaded or not and if it was ever detected to be counted correctly? Sorry, but sounds like someone is trying way to hard to come up with a convoluted equation out of a dark place trying to come up with a meaningful equation. Meanwhile, someone is getting rich writing malware for mobile devices.
I'm sorry but I've no idea what you're saying so I don't really have a response other than a suggestion for you to read the article I previously linked. Perhaps that might help answer your questions. From your tone I don't think you've actually read it yet.
http://qz.com/131436/contrary-to-what-youve-heard-android-is-almost-impenetrable-to-malware/
ok. will do. thanks.
It is also estimated that the average smartphone user has downloaded and installed 26 apps (2). (Mashable suggests that number is 25.)
These numbers imply that there are approximately 40.248 billion installed apps world wide. If only .001% of installations are malware, there there must be 402,480 malware apps installed (40.248 billion X .00001) worldwide. Dividing by 26, that suggests there are only 15,480 affected users (on average)
Why are we worrying about 15.5 thousand users out of 1.5 billion?
Or, put another way, perhaps the infection rate is misleading...
Footnoted links:
(1) http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/e#appusers
(2) http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-average-global-smartphone-user-has-downloaded-26-apps_id47160