ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the mobile devices landscape and demonstrate why Android security matters. It analyzes the evolution of mobile security threats, from basic phones to smartphones and aims to introduce Android history, releases, and marketplaces for Android applications. Android’s share of mobile devices has been increasing at a steady rate. Android devices surpassed iPhone sales by 2011. By mid-2011, there were about half a million Android device activations per day. As the market share of Symbian continues to decline and there is a corresponding increase in the share of Android devices and iPhones, attackers are targeting the platforms. An attack on an Android or smartphone is different and more sophisticated—for example, a malicious application accessing a user's sensitive information and sending it to potential attackers. The Android Open Source Project was tasked with maintaining and further development of Android. Android applications can be downloaded and installed from multiple Android Markets.
