Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research for Damballa, notes that malware targeting mobile devices is constantly evolving. “The Zeus-in-the-Mobile (ZitMo) and several other examples of Android malware are acting more like traditional bots by communicating with a command-and-control (C2) architecture,” says Ollmann. “This marks an evolution beyond premium rate fraud and other tactics that do not rely on C2, and makes mobile devices as susceptible to criminal breach activity as desktops.”
Dmitri Alperovitch, independent security expert and former vice president of Threat Research at McAfee, is also watching the mobile space closely. “We’re already seeing an explosion of threats targeting Android and the iOS platform,” he said. “These devices will become major targets in the months ahead and are providing another avenue for data theft.”