Cheetah Mobile creates SecureBase to alert on global malicious trojans

NEW DELHI: NYSE-listed developer of mission-critical mobile utility and security applications Cheetah Mobile Inc has created SecureBase, a shared security database for researchers, at RSA Conference in San Francisco. SecureBase members will gain access to real-time data on the latest mobile threats around the globe, such as malicious advertising and stubborn trojans.

SecureBase arose from Cheetah Mobile’s desire to increase collaboration in the mobile security industry and ensure a safer future for mobile users and their devices. The database will serve as a comprehensive security knowledge center offering data visualization and up-to-date statistics, drawing from Cheetah Mobile's nearly 2 billion app installations.

“With SecureBase, Cheetah Mobile is leveraging its years of commitment to data-driven mobile security,” said Ming Xu, President of Cheetah Mobile. “We’re extremely focused on making the mobile experience safer for users. Sharing our data and insights with the industry is an important next step for us.”

“Mobile security has reached an important turning point,” said Yong Chen, Senior Vice President of Cheetah Mobile. “Last year, Cheetah Mobile detected over 9.5 million mobile viruses, three times as many as in 2014. In order to protect users from these perpetual attacks, the mobile security industry needs to join forces and work together. We created SecureBase to build bridges to our fellow security researchers.”

Trustlook, the maker of the popular Trustlook Mobile Security & Antivirus app for Android devices, has signed on as a launch partner for SecureBase.

"We are very excited to join Cheetah Mobile as the first enterprise partner for SecureBase," said Allan Zhang, CEO of Trustlook. "Our collaboration on mobile threat research will help to better protect each of our customers.”

Additional launch members of SecureBase include Prof. Yike Guo, Discovery Science Group, Director of the Data Science Institute, Imperial College; Prof. Qingfu Zhang, Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong; Prof. Chu-Sing Yang, Director of the Taiwan Information Security Center@NCKU (TWISC), National Cheng Kung University; Prof. Hung-Yu Kao, Intelligent Knowledge Management Lab, National Cheng Kung University; and Prof. Mauro Conti, University of Padova.

According to Cheetah Mobile Security Lab’s latest research, more than 18% of global mobile ad network traffic comes from malicious promotion, such as fake app updates and ads disguised as security alerts. These bad actors have been particularly difficult to track because they often appear in targeted bursts in one geographic region before moving onto another in just a few hours. Big data is the key to fighting these criminals. With 567 million monthly active users, Cheetah Mobile's top-down view of mobile devices all around the world offers a much-needed perspective for the security industry. In India alone, the company found that there were almost a million devices infected with various malware in 2015.