Android is definitely winning… the race for the most malware, that is.

According to a new study from the Juniper Global Threat Center, malware on Android rose an incredible 472% since July 2011. That’s only a few months.

“These days, it seems all you need is a developer account, that is relatively easy to anonymize, pay $25 and you can post your applications,” wrote Juniper in its report. “With no upfront review process, no one checking to see that your application does what it says, just the world’s largest majority of smartphone users skimming past your application’s description page with whatever description of the application the developer chooses to include.”

And that is where Apple sets itself apart. When developers submit apps to the App Store, they have to go through rigorous checks to make sure the app meets Apple’s guidelines.

“The main reason for the malware epidemic on Android is because of different approaches that Apple and Google take to police their application stores,” wrote Juniper. “Android’s open applications store model, which the lacks code signing and an application review process that Apple requires, makes it easy for attackers to distribute their malware.”

Sure, apps have slipped through and Apple has made some mistakes in the past, but at least they are not approving apps willy-nilly.

And if you think things can only get better on Android, think again.

“The Juniper Global Threat Center found that the months of October and November are shaping up to see the fastest growth in Android malware discovery in the history of the platform,” wrote Juniper.