Targeting vulnerable Android apps.
Social media accessed via mobile became a hot spot for malware attacks in Q1, according to web and mobile security firm AVG.
Unsurprisingly hackers focused their viral assault on Android, encouraged by the open nature of the platform and the huge number of variations implemented by different OEMs and operators.
Android has been plagued by malware scares recently, causing Google to remove over 100 contagious apps from Google Play.
Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CTO, AVG, said: "Cyber criminals are finding it very convenient to distribute their malware straight to a mobile device via these networks. The growth of the Android platform has been phenomenal, which has not gone unnoticed with cyber criminals who have discovered it to be a lucrative target for their malware."
Twitter has over 140 million users and Facebook has over 900 million, and hackers are targeting the networks because of the opportunity to access the vast amount of data and data stored on them.
Additionally, the majority of devices locked into operator billing platforms make it easier for viruses to cause damage than on standard PCs. It's noted that hackers can easily add low premium charges to most accounts and users won't even notice the difference.
Further results show:
* Facebook hackers only need to set up a fake profile which downloads malware to a device by randomly inviting Facebook users.
* Twitter hackers usually create a spam profile and then posts tweets containing shortened hyperlinks to malware using trending hashtags to ensure the data appears at the top of timelines.
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