According to new data released by Alcatel-Lucent, security threats to fixed and mobile broadband networks are on the rise as global consumer usage continues to grow.

Figures for the second quarter of 2013 by Alcatel-Lucent’s Kindsight subsidiary have revealed an increase in malicious software or “malware” used by hackers to gain access to devices for corporate espionage, spying on individuals, theft of personal information, generating massive quantities of spam, denial of service attacks on business and governments and millions of Euros in fraudulent banking and advertising scams.

Due to the unique position of Alcatel-Lucent’s network security and analytic products within   service provider networks, it can measure the impact of traffic types traversing the network, including malicious and cyber-security threats.

The latest Kindsight Security Labs Malware Quarterly Report found that 10% of home networks and over 0.5% of mobile devices were infected with malware, both increases from the previous quarter.

Other highlights of the report include:

• 6 percent of home networks exhibited high-level threats, such as ‘bots’, ‘rootkits’ and ‘Trojan’ banking viruses – all types of malware infecting computers, computer programs and applications running on computers.

• The Zero Access botnet continues to be the most common malware threat, infecting 0.8 percent of broadband users.

• In mobile networks, the vast majority of infected devices are either Android™ phones or Windows laptops tethered to a phone on connected directly through a mobile USB stick or MIFI hub.

• Mobile malware continues to grow with a sixfold increase in the number of Android malware samples.

Malware and cyber security threats continue to be a growing problem for home networks and mobile devices, particularly for Android smartphones and tablets which are increasingly targeted,” said Kevin McNamee, security architect and director of Alcatel-Lucent’s  Kindsight Security Labs. “Users often don’t take the appropriate security precautions for their mobile devices, and even when they do a malicious app can easily evade detection by device-based anti-virus.”

The report also includes the top 20 home network infections and Internet threats, as well as analysis of malware developments, including Zero Access, Alureon, the Zeus banking Trojan, Uapush, QDPlugin, and others.

The Kindsight Security Labs report also includes information on the rise of mobile spyware as a threat to the BYOD (bring your own device) trend in workplaces. To demonstrate how a smartphone can become a cyber-espionage device, McNamee said Kindsight has developed a proof-of-concept spy-phone software module that can be injected into just about any Android application.

From a remote web based command center the attacker can track the phone’s location, download contact lists and personal information, intercept and send messages, record conversations and take pictures.

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