Application-Based Threats

Attacks focused on chat or music-streaming applications are a clear example of how the threat landscape has shifted from desktops and laptops to mobile devices, according to Vijaya Kaza, chief development officer at San Francisco, Calif.-based Lookout.

Any app that has the capability to send links or URLs offers bad actors the opportunity to create a sophisticated social engineering attack via messages or links that convinces a user to give out their credentials to do something else that jeopardizes their security, Kaza said.

Additionally, Kaza said malware can be concealed within legitimate-looking applications. For instance, Kaza said some malware targeting Google app markets in the Middle East pretends to be part of a chat application but actually serves as surveillanceware once the application has been downloaded.