This week Google made two major moves to address the growing malware problem on mobile in general and on its Chrome and Chrome on Android, in particular, Google execs said this week.

The major feature of Chrome 17 and Chrome for Android Beta, both just out this week, is malware detection. Both now do on the fly detection of potentially infected exe and msi files. High time. For IT to manage and deal with the increasing number of employees relying on their own Android mobile devices and their own choice of browser, Google needs to get things right. The right time is now.

Debacles like the recent Android.Counterclank adware/spyware on 13 games and apps in Google Market — four of the 13 stayed up on the Market days after Symantec identified them — do nothing but make IT wary.

And for good reason. Google needs to give enterprise a clear message about what it intends to do regarding malware on its various platforms and services.

This graphic, from McAfee, shows the prevalence of Android Malware:

Graphic above, courtesy: McAfee

To be fair, it isn’t all on Google’s shoulders. The explosion of mobile devices and the lack of knowledge by users on how to block malware are US and global problems. The following stats come from NQ Mobile:

The issue that should concern IT above all is what stats show criminals do with their potentially sensitive and certainly insecure information.

And it’s not just a US problem. Look at this!