Android users should be on alert when handling their financial details in banking apps and websites

It’s been a devastating few weeks for Android users. There have been warnings over dozens of apps capable of generating money for criminals behind your back using adware, and an app that could reinstall itself whenever users tried to delete the harmful programme from their handset – Android users don't have to install anything to be vulnerable. And then there was StrandHogg – a flaw the allows hackers to create a fake login page pretending to be a legitimate banking app on your handset, siphoning off your bank login details. Worse still, StrandHogg will still direct users to the legitimate app once they’ve inputted their details. So, from your perceptive, all you’ve done is log into your banking app – unaware that hackers have just been handed over all the details they need to do the same.

So, is it just bad timing that all these attacks – almost all designed to earn money from your smartphone, or steal it directly from your bank account – or are Android users more at risk than their iOS counterparts? And if so, should they avoid trusting their devices with their most sensitive information, like online banking or inputing your debit and credit card details in dozens of websites to make the most of the Black Friday sales, or Christmas shopping rush? According to Jan Youngren, who works as a Cybersecurity Expert at VPNpro.com, using Android does carry more of a risk. And users need to be aware of that. Youngren told Express.co.uk: “While we haven't yet done a full analysis of StrandHogg, it's generally always riskier to use your Android phone for any seriously sensitive activities, because there's a much wider range of malware available specifically for Android devices. This is especially risky during the Christmas shopping season, when online shopping revenue goes up – and so do hackers' attempts to steal your banking, PayPal or credit card data. “So, in general, when comparing Android to iOS, iOS wins simply because of their better default security. For example, there are loads of free malware that you can use to infect Android devices, while it will be very difficult for you to find paid iOS malware that will be unpatched for longer than a few days. Apple is just better at security by default.” DON'T MISS

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But when asked about the other options available to those who typically use Android smartphone or tablets to sort their finances using apps or online banking portals, Youngren wasn’t overly complimentary about one other platform that online shoppers could plump for. “If you're planning on switching from Android to Windows in order to make your Christmas purchases more 'secure', that's pretty much like jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” the cybersecurity expert added. Yikes. That's one way of putting it. Of course, that's merely the assessment of one cybersecurity expert. When reaching out to another popular security platform, we received a very different response about the safety of the Android platform.

There has been a slew of attacks on Android smartphones these last few weeks


Victor Chebyshev, who works as a security analyst at anti-virus firm Kaspersky, said: "The sheer capability to install apps from third-party sources brings certain risks to any [operating system], and different financial threats exists for various platforms, so the best advice is to stay cautious at all times and use a security solution on the smartphones."