How To Avoid Malware with Your Android Phone

Even though the Android platform supports 97 percent of mobile malware worldwide, Android phones can easily stay safe if users avoid third-party apps, a Forbes contributor reported.

The platform earned 87 percent of the global smartphone market and saw mobile malware threats grow to more than 800 last year, according to a report from security specialist F-Secure.

But even though malware for Android is overwhelmingly more common than threats for Apple's iOS or Microsoft's Windows, Android users should be able to avoid any problems if they stick to trusted apps from the Google Play Store.

The vast majority of the malware comes from "small, unregulated third-party app stores predominantly in the Middle East and Asia," said Forbes contributor Gordon Kelly.

On the other hand, just 0.1 percent of the Play Store's apps have been found to have malware, and Google frequently inspects the apps to get rid of any with threats.

According to the F-Secure report, third-party app stores were rife with malicious software.

"Mumayi, AnZhi, Baidu, eoeMarket and liqucn were found to have 6 percent, 5 percent, 8 percent, 7 percent and 8 percent malware penetration respectively and an appalling 33 percent of apps were infected in Android159," Kelly wrote.

The guilty apps were often fake or repackaged versions of popular games.

Kelly noted that "the message is simple: steer clear of third party app stores that don't have the resources to effectively scan and police their libraries."

But while Android is much safer than the malware numbers make it sound, the problem comes when the Play Store isn't available in other countries.

Google has fallen behind in bringing its platform to other countries, including China, where Apple has made solid headway in the last few years.