According to Preuss, the problem with smartphone-based viruses and malware is that they are difficult to track down, owing to the wireless nature of mobile phones.
One of the new issues that Kaspersky is seeing in the mobile phone malware stakes is the development of smartphone fakeware – like their desktop equivalents, he says, the malware claims there is an infection on the user's smartphone and recommends a download.
The download, says Preuss, means that malicious code is then loaded onto the smartphone and – if the mobile is synchronised with a desktop PC – the desktop computer ends up being infected as well.
Preuss said that maliciously coded worms are increasingly being seen on the Google Android and Apple iPhone operating systems and his research teams are now starting to see malware-infested apps for the smartphone operating system in the wild.
The problem with these rogue apps, he told the Hamburg paper, is that users punch in their credit card details, meaning that hackers can then harvest this information centrally.
The Kaspersky virus analyst also said that Germany has become a hotbed for botnets, largely because of its excellent IT and communications infrastructure, and the fact that there is a sizeable base of savvy internet users.
According to Preuss, the situation is made worse by the fact that 20% of German PCs have no anti-virus software installed, which is a lot higher than in many other countries.