New Android malware popped up every 10 seconds in 1Q17: report

A new instance of Android malware popped up nearly every 10 seconds, security firm G DATA reported. The information was especially troubling, given Android's 81.7 per cent share of mobile OS market share worldwide, according to Gartner data.

G DATA security researchers uncovered more than 750,000 new Android malware apps in Q1 2017, which worked out to 8,400 new malware instances every day, according to the report, roughly 1 every 10.29 seconds.

The G DATA report stated the around 3.2 million new Android malware files were discovered in 2016 and that number is expected to hit 3.5 million in 2017.

According to the report, Android's fragmentation was to blame for the growth of the malware, with a paltry 7.1 per cent of Android users running the latest version of the OS, Android 7.0 or 7.1 Nougat.

The April 2017 Android developer dashboard from Google showed that 32 per cent of users were running Android 5.0 or 5.1 Lollipop, while 31.2 per cent of users were running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

According to commentators, the big issue with fragmentation had to do with updates. They add, if a given device was running an older version of Android, it would not necessarily be protected from emerging threats that were addressed in later versions.

Patches and updates often had to go through an OEM first, before they were pushed to the phone.

Meanwhile, the Google Play Top Developer program is being pulled and emails about its closure are being sent out to Android developers.

Under the long-running program, developers whose apps were recognised as innovative, fun or of top quality were in addition to the award of top developer badge, honoured with a miniature blue arrow badge/icon alongside app listings.

According to the email, the said method had now become redundant and saturated.