McAfee issues security warning over tablets and smartphones

The computer security company McAfee has issued a warning over the prospect of cyber criminals focussing on fast-growing consumer tech sectors like those involving tablet PCs and smartphones.

Experts at the California-based firm suggest that patterns of online criminality are generally linked to the popularity of particular devices and how easy they are to infiltrate.

With tablets PCs and smartphones becoming more and more commonly used in various parts of the world, McAfee reports that the scale of mobile malware increased by as much as 46 per cent in 2010 compared with 2009.

“Our Q4 ‘Threats Report’ shows that cybercriminals are keeping tabs on what’s popular and what will have the biggest impact from the smallest effort,” explained Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs.

A statement later in the report also suggests that the current trends will continue as a wider variety of internet-linked devices are used by consumers worldwide on a daily basis.

“With the adoption of so many new mobile platforms, combined with the lack of security awareness and mobile safeguards, McAfee Labs expects cybercriminals to use botnet infections to target mobile devices.”

Meanwhile, a piece of Trojan malware that attacks Android operated smartphones and tablet PCs was identified by the computer security firm as being one of the “most important threats of the quarter”.

It’s not all bad news though, at least not for McAfee – the company has also reported that its fourth-quarter revenues were up 11 per cent on the previous three month period.

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