By Stewart Tongue

YNOT – Almost 25 percent of all malware on mobile devices comes from porn websites, according to a study by web security firm Blue Coat.

The report claims adult sites represent less than 1 percent of all sites visited by mobile traffic, so the risk to the overall mobile ecosystem is small. However, analysts noted, mobile malware is rising rapidly and may present a more significant threat than viruses distributed in desktop environments: Mobile browsers do not allow users to hover over shortened URLs or text links to discover the true destination.

“No matter how tantalizing a link might look on a desktop, there are cues that you shouldn’t go there, such as an address that just doesn’t look safe,” said Blue Coat Chief Security Strategist Hugh Thompson. “When you click a link on a mobile phone, it’s harder to know what form of Russian roulette they’re playing.”

So far mobile attack methods have mirrored traditional malware techniques that have proved successful in desktop environments. Thompson and others expect that to change: Several major security firms have predicted 2013 will be the tipping point for mobile devices to emerge as a primary digital portal. Popularity, especially in the tech sector, always brings with it a significant increase in nefarious interest.

As mobile proliferation and malware opportunity converge, technological advances like Near Field Communication and user habits like failing to password-protect handheld devices make the possibility of digital infection across the spectrum of connected mobile devices more certainty than prognostication.