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    HomeMobile EuropeMobile malware goes up by... how much? (clue - it's not 273%)

    Mobile malware goes up by… how much? (clue – it’s not 273%)

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    Mobile malware goes up 273% the headlines shout. You may have seen one or two of them. But the truth is if anything “worse” — those same stories, by sticking with the delivery of the press release the stories are based on, missed the real numbers.

    I too received the press release from G Data that these stories reference, but I was intrigued by a discrepancy between the wording of the release and that of the covering note from the public relations person who sent me the release.

    The press release proper says that mobile malware’s share of the overall malware threat had grown 273% over the first six months of the year. The covering note said that mobile malware overall was up 273%.

    The two aren’t the same thing, so I asked for clarification on what the absolute numbers were.

    Here they are. As you can see, the total number of mobile malware threats detected by G Data is as following.

    In the first six months of 2010, 212 threats were detected. In the second half of last year, that number is down to 55. Then, in the first half of 2011, G Data picked up on 803 bits of malicious code attacking mobile platforms.

    So, if you wanted to write that in terms of “mobile malware up X per cent” then you could choose the year on year H1 figures and say malware is up just under four times (from 212 to 803). Or you could take the sequential half year numbers and say that mobile malware has increased around 1,400%, from (55 to 803 detected threats).

    Either way, G Data has not reported a 273% increase in mobile malware – as is being reported.

    What has increased 273% is mobile’s share of the overall malware threat out there – as seen by G Data. As you can see, G Data said that 803 threats gives mobile a share of just 0.1% of the total malware “market” – counting all threats to all the other platforms out there. Prior to this increase, therefore, malware’s overall share was very, very, small indeed.

    What I find interesting is that G Data could have gone for the “Mobile malware increased 1,400% from H2 2010 to H2 2011” angle, but instead chose to go with a less sensational definition by looking at “share”.

    The overall takeaway, then, is that mobile malware as detected by G Data is growing, but not consistently so. And it’s still a tiny fraction of the overall opportunity as identified by the cyber criminals out there. That’s not a plea for complacency, by the way, as you’d be a fool to think mobile isn’t the next frontier for the virus scammers. But do think on if you are planning to use the 273% number in any future presentations or collateral.

    (P.S. As with all such stories where you attempt to correct others, I’m bound to have made some mistakes of my own in interpreting these numbers. Please do let me know if you spot any.)