If you do not have a security app installed on your Android device be weary, Malware developers want your data.

The concept is nothing new. We’ve all installed anti-virus security software on our computers, protecting our sensitive information and making sure it’s as far away from the hands of any hacker or evil computer genius. What about our phones? If you think about it, people have become more and more smartphone dependent since the first iPhone was released in 2007. Purchasing products, storing credit card information, we even have a virtual wallet inside our phones—which comes as a stock app for both Apple and Android devices. Overall our smartphones are overexposed and under-protected.

RiskIQ, an online security services company, performed a malware analysis on the Google Play Store using its own software that scans, and scouts app, websites and web ads. The technology exposes malware that would otherwise not show itself to traditional virus-scanning software. The data they collected was indeed shocking…

The number of malicious apps available on the Google Play Store nearly quadrupled since the company’s 2011 scan. As of May 2013 there are 42,000 apps, in the Google Play Store, that contain spyware and information-stealing Trojan’s that are specifically made for obtaining private data such as credit card numbers, email addresses, sim card information, login information, and contact lists. The worst of the possible malware actually targets your stock messaging app and sends a money-order SMS to themselves, which will take a punch at your phone bill.

With the number of malicious apps continuing to grow, the researchers at RistIQ state that your number one defense would be installing a security anti-virus app onto your smartphone. The apps include AntiVirus Security, Mobile Security & Antivirus, CM Security, and Lookout Security & AntiVirus. Downloading one of the apps named above will protect and continuously scan your apps and send any virus or malware into a vault, protecting you from hackers trying to steal your most secure information.

Possible apps to have malware include, but are not limited to…

-Wallpaper Apps
-Finger Hockey
-Flappy Bird clones or spin-offs
-Apps that provide ‘Tips,’ ‘Tricks,’ or ‘Hacks’ for popular games like Clash of Clans, Subway Surfers, and Candy Crush Saga

This page from Norton Mobile Security lists the activities your phone may display if you do have an infected device. In that case, run your anti-virus, or take your smartphone back your mobile carrier—more than likely they will replace the phone due to the software issue. Keeping those sneaky hackers and evil computer genius at bay just requires a simple installation of the latest anti-virus software, and a close attention to what apps you choose to download onto your phone. After all, they are handheld computers.