During the era of personal computers, Apple products were generally considered less vulnerable to security related attacks than the alternatives in the market. This has also come to be the case with the advent of mobile devices such as the smartphones and tablets. According to a study from Juniper Networks Inc., the Android mobile platform from Google has registered almost a six times increase in such malicious threats like viruses and spyware since the month of July.
This could increase the general perception that the devices manufactured by Apple are much safer than Android based tablets and smartphones, said the report. Dan Hoffman, the team leader of the group which tracks mobile threats, said that the number of infections on Apple devices doesn’t come close to comparison with the threats to the Android ecosystem.
The majority of growth in threats for Android originates from the apps which are available from third party websites which are not supported explicitly in the Android Market, according to the data which was collected by Juniper. The same issues are not faced by Apple as the owners of the iPad and the iPhones are only allowed to download applications directly from the Apple App Store which is under the direct control of the company.
Hoffman said that the much more open nature of the Android platform renders it increasingly more vulnerable to being attacked, as the apps available from third party sites cannot be controlled by Google. He said that it is easier to develop such malicious codes for Android as the applications are not checked by Google; its source code is open source and the applications can be obtained from external websites.
Android is a free OS which is open for anyone to download, whereas Apple actively assesses every one of the applications which are made available on its App Store. Hoffman said that as Android is becoming more popular than the Apple iOS, it is more attractive to hackers looking for a wider reach. From the thousands of Android apps which are infected, around 55% are spyware, which collect data from smartphone users. Mountain View, California based Google and Cupertino based Apple are fighting for controlling the smartphone market as users are moving from the conventional desktop computers towards the mobile devices which are becoming increasingly more popular.
