Fake Mobile Apps Are an Increasing Risk, McAfee Reports

McAfee released its Mobile Threat Report 2019 on Feb. 25, revealing how attackers are increasingly taking aim at mobile users. Among the highlights of the 20-page report is data on fake mobile apps, that look to trick users into clicking or installing something that leads to data loss and exploitation.  According to McAfee Global Threat Intelligence data, there were nearly 65,000 fake app detections in December 2018 up dramatically from only 10,000 in June 2018. McAfee also reported a significant spike in volume of mobile backdoors, that exploit users and in particular the Timpdoor family of backdoor malware. "The growth of Timpdoor has been just nuts, in December there were more than 16,000 infections," Raj Samani, McAfee fellow and chief scientist at McAfee, told eWEEK. In this eWEEK Data Points article we look at some of the key trends and figures identified in the McAfee Mobile Threat Report for Q1 2019.