According to Intel's McAfee that has just published its report for security for Q3, there is a growing increase in Malware being aimed at phones making Android operating system run smartphones their target. The report claims that the Android operating system has sealed its ranking as the main goal of all new mobile malware. They said that the malware targeting Android phones have increased by 37% when compared to the previous quarter and considers this year 2011, to be the busiest in terms of the history of mobiles. Practically all recent malware was trying to target Android in the third quarter. This was preceded by a 76% hike in malware targeting Android in the previous quarter.

McAfee estimates that by 2011 end, malware would get to 70 million exclusive samples, however it has hiked this estimate to 75 million exclusive malware samples by the end of 2011 and as per McAfee it is the highest in the history of malware.

McAfee states that creators of Malware are taking advantage of Android popularity mobile devices these three months, targeting the Android interface as it was the single mobile operating system for every malware that was created in the third quarter. Sending Trojans through SMS was one of the most preferred forms of malware that was able to gather all personal details and also pilfer money. One other technique of collecting user details is a malware that tapes conversations on the mobile phone and passes them on to the hackers.

There are various other forms of attack on mobile safety that are constantly increasing. The Fake Anti-virus (AV), AutoRun, and the Trojan that pilfers passwords are back with a bang from the earlier quarter. However AutoRun and other password pinchers are quite steady. Malware targeting Mac is also growing.

Threats on the web are also another means of hackers to feed on innocent people. In addition websites have a bad name for many reasons and very often affect the putting up of malware and phishing sites. There was a go down in the numbers of bad sites from 7300 to 6500 between Q2 as well as Q3.

Spamming continues to be low, but at the same time spearphisihing seems to have become trendier and efficient as a consequence of which the threats are higher. Though botnet showed a general drop, there seemed to be a hike in places like Indonesia, Russia, Argentina and Venezula. The most lethal of them are Cutwail, Lethic and Festi, while the earlier ones like Bobax, Grum and Maazben are no longer so active.

Social engineering is another form that is being used for specific attacks that are geography or location and language dependent. The invaders seem to know what will work where, not only throughout the world but even during specific seasons. Deliverance Service Notifications meaning false error messages are the most common in the US, while the "419 scams" are all pervading in the UK. Phishing scam seemed to rule in France whereas in Russia the drug spam is what is most common.

It is quite definitely a fact that hackers are increasing and they were first introduced by a group called anonymous in the third quarter. The only demarcation that can be seen in this quarter when compared to the earlier quarters is that the objectives of the hackers seem hazier than before. The McAfee report show up hackers' movements from the third quarter onwards and there are a minimum of 10 high-end attacks from Anonymous, like the attacks on Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, Bay Area Rapid Transit, Austrian Police, Goldman Sachs and Booz Allen Hamilton.