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Your Smartphone Is Safer Than Your PC — For Now

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Galen Gruman reports on the future of mobile security — one that will see a significant rise in exploits as valuable information increasingly migrates to mobile devices. To date, sandboxing and code-signing have helped make mobile OSes relatively secure, when compared with their desktop brethren. But as devices store more valuable information than email, they will become more enticing to hackers currently breaking into Windows PCs. And the biggest bulls-eye appears to be on Android, in large part because its architecture is most like that of the desktop PC but also because there are so many variants in use — too many for Google or the carriers to patch securely. And as the PDF-jailbreak vulnerability showed, sandboxing has its limits when it comes to securing the browser — the most likely point of entry for exploits not due to the rise of extensions, helper objects, and plug-ins on the mobile Web."

5 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Android less secure? by bsDaemon · · Score: 0, Troll

    Because the article author has an iPhone and wants to feel (even) better about himself?

  2. Re:Android less secure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Windows is an easy target because it's a huge badly-secured monoculture. How does having several different versions of Android to attack make it similarly insecure?

    Its not that its badly secured, it is more secure than any other operating system, simply because everyone uses it, for most hackers breaking through a Windows computer is almost muscle memory simply becuase they do it so much, now linux it has its potentials to be hacked but why hack the same thing we use to hack windows, its all about the number of deployed systems. Prime example, in 2006 Mac OS X had 3 known viruses written for it, no one chose to hack it, now look, Snow Leopard has antivirus embedded in the OS. Read a few more books before you decide to make such a half-assed bold comment like that.

  3. Re:Android less secure? by node+3 · · Score: 1, Troll

    it [Windows] is more secure than any other operating system

    Um...

    Prime example, in 2006 Mac OS X had 3 known viruses written for it

    Wrong. There are *no* viruses for Mac OS X. There are a handful of trojans, none of which are even remotely wide-spread (even adjusting for OS X's relative install base) and all of which require the user to enter in their admin password (a huge governor which helps limit the rate at which malware can spread).

    Snow Leopard has antivirus embedded in the OS

    Wrong. Snow Leopard checks for a handful of trojans/malware. There are no viruses for Mac OS X. Embedding anti-virus would be pointless, unless you just want to be nice and scan for Windows viruses.

  4. Re:This is why I prefer my BB by negRo_slim · · Score: 0, Troll

    Windows is the single worst thing out there.

    Or more likely, your simply inept.

    --
    On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
  5. Re:And the first ones out of the gate will be easy by node+3 · · Score: 0, Troll

    *cough* sure*cough*

    Sounds like you're coming down with something there PC.

    Less threats, sure. But far from completely secure.

    Please quote where I said Macs are "completely secure".

    That list you linked to is bogus. There are no viruses for Mac OS X AT ALL. And there are only a handful of actual trojans/malware, none of which is widespread, and none of which is of the level of concern where a Mac user should feel compelled to run anti-virus/anti-malware software.

    If this is your idea of Mac's comeuppance, you're really stretching it.