For a period of time last month, the most popular new paid Android app on the Google Play store was antivirus software.
According to multiple reports, it was also a scam.
Both facts tell us something about the digital world we’re living in today. First, the threat of cyber crime is prevelent enough that antivirus software can top the charts of a popular online marketplace (although whether all the downloads for this particular app were legitimate is hard to know). Second, when it comes to cyber crime, no one — not even Google, one of the most powerful companies in the world — is immune.
The fake antivirus software wasn’t actually harmful, in that it contained no malicious code (which Google Play does scan for). In fact, the app didn’t do much of anything, other than charging people $3.99 and displaying a shield icon to convince them their phone was being protected.
It did, however, illustrate how easy it is to become the victim of cyber crime.
These types of stories are becoming more frequent all the time. Fortunately, there are also a lot of people and businesses working to combat the problem. Cyber Security Business was created to help chronicle those businesses, as well as the research and trends emerging in the today’s cyber security industry.
As criminals become more sophisticated, our cyber security infrastructure must also become more sophisticated. Check back here each day to find out how it’s doing.
[ Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net ]