Malware targeting Android smartphones on the rise, report says

The Motorola Moto X smartphone, using Google's Android software, is displayed, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 at a press preview in New York. (AP / Mark Lennihan)

BERLIN -- Malicious software targeting smartphones with the Android operating system is becoming more common, with some handsets already infected when they're bought.

A report by German security firm G DATA found that the samples containing such malware had increased by 25 per cent in the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year.

The company's 10th such report, released Wednesday, found that analysts could identify a new strain of malware every 14 seconds.

It says some phones by manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi contain modified apps designed to spy on users or display advertising.

G DATA spokesman Christian Lueg says the phones appear to have been installed by middlemen, but in tracing the source "we lost the trail in China."

Users can detect the malware with free software.