Two-thirds of Australians don't have mobile security software: Survey

Despite Australians being the target of up to 100 malware threats per hour on their smartphones, two-thirds admit that they do not have any security software, a new survey has revealed.

According to the results of the survey -- conducted by Intel Security to launch Stay Smart Online Week, 14 million Australians do not bother with extra security steps on their smartphones despite five per cent having had their phones infected by malicious malware in the past quarter.

The results showed that 60 per cent of Australians view their smartphones as "priceless" and more than a third said they would rather have their wallet than their phone, news.com.au reported on Monday.

Security experts have reported that malware aimed at infecting smartphones has risen dramatically with the report claiming that the attacks have skyrocketed to 151 per cent in the past year.

Recently, Trend Micro reported that it had found DressCode Malware in 400 apps in the Google Play app store and in 3,000 apps in third-party app stores.

Dresscode, which made its debut in April, can empower its controllers to pull down sensitive data and execute cyber-espionage.

Stay Smart Online Week, a collaboration between the Australian government and industries, small business operators and community groups to raise awareness about how to protect oneself online, is being held from October 10-14 in Canberra.

--IANS

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