China, Ukraine And Saudi Arabia See Record Growth in Malware Threats In 2013, According To NQ Mobile Mid-Year Report

PRESS RELEASE

DALLAS and BEIJING, July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new security report released today by NQ Mobile, Inc. (NYSE: NQ), a leading global provider of mobile Internet services, 51,000 new mobile malware threats were identified in the first half of 2013, infecting an estimated 21 million mobile devices.

Highlights of report include:

-- The top five most infected markets in 2013 along with their respective share of the world's mobile infected devices were China (31.71 percent), Russia (17.15 percent), India (10.38 percent), USA (6.53 percent) and Thailand (6.04 percent)

-- China continued to be the leading market for infected mobile devices with over 6.7 million infected devices - a 43% increase from 1Q to 2Q 2013.

-- Ukraine saw the most dramatic increase, growing 485% from 1Q to 2Q 2013. Russia and Ukraine together now account for almost 20% of the world's mobile infections

-- Mobile infections in Saudi Arabia grew 28.46 percent from 1Q to 2Q 2013

-- The Southeast Asia countries of Indonesia, Malaysia Thailand and Vietnam all made the top 10 most infected market list. When combined, these countries make up 12.01 percent of the world's total mobile malware infections

-- India and the United States saw the most dramatic reductions in total malware infections - with 88 and 63% decreases, respectively, from 1Q to 2Q 2013

-- The top three methods for delivering malware in 2013 continue to be app repackaging[i], malicious URLs[ii], and smishing[iii] "Our midyear report shows that although we discovered 51,000 new mobile malware threats, infection rates continue be very unpredictable and highly localized," said Omar Khan, Co-CEO, NQ Mobile. "And as evidenced by the Bill Shocker[iv] malware we discovered in January which infected over 600,000 mobile devices, it takes just one successful piece of malware to create a local malware epidemic.

Our best advice to consumers around the world continues:

-- download apps only from trusted app marketplaces

-- be careful when responding to or clicking links in SMS messages

-- install a trusted mobile security solution on your mobile device."

To view a full copy of NQ Mobile's 2013 Midyear Mobile Security Report, including charts and additional information on malware discoveries, please visit http://blog.nq.com/2013midyearsecurityreport/

Research Methodology

NQ Mobile's 2013 midyear security report is based on insights from NQ Mobile's Security Labs, as well as data collected from NQ Mobile's global malware database, scanning engines and its network of hundreds of millions of registered users. NQ Mobile Security Labs is a team of over 250 mobile security professionals around the world who proactively monitor the mobile landscape for new malware threats and mobile hacking methods.

About NQ Mobile

NQ Mobile Inc. (NYSE: NQ) is a leading global provider of mobile Internet services. NQ Mobile is a mobile security pioneer with proven competency to acquire, engage, and monetize customers globally. NQ Mobile's portfolio includes mobile security and mobile games & advertising for the consumer market and consulting, mobile platforms and mobility services for the enterprise market. As of March 31, 2013, NQ Mobile maintains a large, global user base of 327 million registered user accounts and 111 million monthly active user accounts through its consumer mobile security business, 77 million registered user accounts and 14 million monthly active user accounts through its mobile games & advertising business and over 1,250 enterprise customers. NQ Mobile maintains dual headquarters in Dallas, Texas, USA and Beijing, China. For more information on NQ Mobile, please visit http://www.nq.com.

[i] App repackaging: Concealing malicious malware in a seemingly legitimate app [ii] Malicious URLs: Fake URLs masquerading as legitimate URLs such as, banking websites [iii] Smishing: Phishing by way of SMS messages [iv] Bill Shocker was discovered in January 2013 by NQ Mobile and one of the most costly viruses yet discovered. More information can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/lwznwlt