Post-Stagefright analysis shows Android users remain indifferent to attacks

In the past few months, Android users have seen a series of attacks by hackers exploiting bugs, collectively putting more than a billion devices at risk worldwide.

In late July, Stagefright hit the news as a weakness in the system that was being exploited by hackers. This was followed by Stagefright 2.0 and Kemoge, making for massive malware attacks on Android phones in three out of the last four months.

360 Mobile Security has used analytics to determine the response of its 24 million US users in the wake of Stagefright. It found that junk files cleaned saw a 62.6 percent increase, viruses found were up by 2.8 percent in the first week and an additional 11 percent the following week. The number of antiviruses installed saw a 13 percent increase and weekly new users also saw a 13.4 percent increase.

These findings echo 360's previous report in July which found that there's a disconnect between the mobile security threats that exist, and users' willingness to protect themselves and their devices from them.

The report recommends that in order to stay safe users should, only install apps from trusted official app stores and avoid using third party sources, never click links from suspicious emails and texts, always have their device upgraded to the newest version of the operating system, and use a trusted antivirus app. It concludes, "Preventing a virus from infecting your phone through the use of a security app is much simpler than trying to cure it after it appears and infiltrates a mobile device".

You can learn more about how to protect your Android device on the 360 Security website.

Image Credit: Christos Georghiou / Shutterstock