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Accountability, Not Code Quality, Makes iOS Safer Than Android
chicksdaddy writes "Threatpost is reporting on a new study of mobile malware that finds accountability, not superior technology, has kept Apple's iOS ecosystem free of viruses, even as the competing Android platform strains under the weight of repeated malicious code outbreaks. Dan Guido of the firm Trail of Bits and Michael Arpaia of iSEC Partners told attendees at the SOURCE Boston Conference on Thursday about an empirical analysis of existing malicious programs for the Android and iOS platforms which shows that Google is losing the mobile security contest badly — every piece of malicious code the two identified was for the company's Android OS, while Apple's iOS remained free of malware, despite owning 30% of the mobile smartphone market in the U.S. Apple's special sauce? Policies that demand accountability from iOS developers, and stricter controls on what applications can do once they are installed on Apple devices."
Time is money and I could stand to lose a few pounds
"Strains under the wait"?
Since when is the iOS more secure? The latest Android has a very stable code and a solid permission system that allows the user to set exactly what an app can or can't do. This in contrast to an OS that can be rooted by a fucking website.
..and how would they detect it on the ios? they just said that there is _zero_ malware, yet there's plenty of ios games/apps which leak all your contact info?(as is there for android).
(and the accountability part is that it takes a little more checks to get yourself identified as a publisher for itunes appstore.. however.. it doesn't take that much, there is and has been plenty of unauthorized distribution of asian comics etc there)
I haven't identified any iOS malware either, but that could be because I haven't looked for any(just not my field).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Guess what?! Freedom comes with risks! I don't make any decision until I weigh the pros and cons and do a bit of research, and yes, this includes any and all apps I may want to use.
Who is accountable for using wait instead of weight?
Would the ability to run unapproved software make the infection rates in both of these subgroups near equal? I wonder how many out of all android device are rooted, and how many out of all ios devices are jailbroken. If a higher ratio of droid phones are rooted, with all else equal, then that could also push up the infection rates.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
Last time I checked, there were plenty of reports of malicious iOS apps clandestinely hoovering up your private data/contacts, and sending that bundle to the app's developers, who will use it for Lord-knows-what-nefarious-purpose. With this being the case, how can anyone possibly claim that iOS is "secure & malware free". The malware doesn't have to be a Trojan or Virus. It can also be a nasty little app that secretly sends your private data to a server somewhere that you don't even suspect exists. ----- I don't understand why Apple fans need to maintain a strange belief into the "infallibility" of Apple's ecosystem. Apple is plenty fallible in my humble opinion. And this is just another snide attempt to advertise the "Extra-Special-Specialness" of using Apple products.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
Most malware authors prefer anonymity. If we know who you are, you're not going to get much more than one shot at selling malware on our platform.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
the competing Android platform strains under the wait of repeated malicious code outbreaks
Yeah, it's the waiting that I can't stand.
For some reason I doubt Boeing would build a super secure phone on a flawed platform. Neither platform is inherently more secure than the other.
Read what I mean, not what I wrote.
Thursday about an empirical analysis of existing malicious programs for the Android and iOS platforms shows that Google is losing the mobile security contest badly — every piece of malicious code the two identified was for the company's Android OS, while Apple's iOS remained free of malware,.
Wait, what?
An empirical analysis of existing malicious iOS and Android programs (which the article claims do not exist for iOS) shows that no malicious apps exist for iOS.
Begging the question much?
Of course a walled garden is safer than the wild west. I bought into Apple's ecosystem for my phone, because reliability and stability are very important qualities to me for that type of device. And I haven't been disappointed with my choice. Where this approach suffers is with my newly acquired iPad. The iPad is quickly becoming my laptop replacement; I do way more with it than is practical with my phone. I've started to bump my head on the roof of Apple's iOS. The limitations can be irritating. I'd be willing to sacrifice a little safety for more options. Perhaps that will come with time.
From TFA: "the competing Android platform strains under the weight of repeated malicious code outbreaks"
It takes a determined idiot to make a spelling mistake when copying and pasting from a website.
Crushing authoritarianism leads to lower crime, worth the misery? Film at 11.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Don't you remember being a lil kid? Anything you want to do is safe as long as you have someone to blame.
Accountablility=safety.
Oh a security breach! It's Norms fault, Fire him!
Problem solved, you're all safe now that Norm isn't coding for us anymore.
For Security, just think different.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Call it whatever you want, but we just got the first major malware outbreak in OS X recently after so many years. On the iPhone that is unheard of. Much as in the Windows world and the much hated Vista security system that kept asking you, do you want to do this, or allow that?, that security model is fail since regular users will start saying yes to everything and then end up with a problem. Call Apple what it is, an overpriced hardware/software company that likes to keep the lid closed, but as far as their products running trouble free in general, I will have to agree with the article. But hey, everybody is free to think whatever they want.
Well , I'm certainly not going to pay for it.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
"We looked for iOS malware, but there is none to collect," he said. "It's amazing that there's just none out there."
Ooops! They forgot about FinFisher, the publicly available targeted rootkit for iOS:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/11/apple-took-3-years-to-fix-finfisher-trojan-hole/
Telepathy= Salt flats
C.B. Radio= Nascar
Twitter= lemmings jogging
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Why do they always make it sound like it's completely saturated the play store and other things like that? It is not true at all, if you install apps from some alternative market or some chinese website where you're trying to get some $2 app for free, then you DESERVE a virus for even attempting to use those stupid sites. Get a clue and a life and stop wasting our time with these stupid articles. This is all common sense as far as I'm concerned. If you don't know how to drive, don't get behind the wheel of a car. If you aren't smarter than an electronic device you're using, go read a book.
This should be good...
Being accountable does help keeping people honest. Knowing you will get away with taking a fistful of dollars from the cash register versus knowing that the management will realise that there is money missing from your cash register makes a big difference.
Security is all about layers. Accountability is just one of them, and it is an important one.
This is proof that Flashback is nothing more than an exercise in fantasy. How dare these security companies speak ill of Steve Job's creations!
And another big difference: Windows/OS-X malware are usually worms that spread themselves over the network (including drive-by downloads). I haven't heard of any such malware with Android or iOS, instead it was always linked to a certain app that contained some "extra functionality".
It's only malware if it's doing it for malevolent purposes. If an app is uploading your contacts for the purposes of matching up social graphs within the app to deliver the features the app promises, then that's not malware.
It's poor app design... that is better done by uploading hashes of email addresses rather than actual addresses. But it's not malware.
It's also unacceptable and is against specific App Store rules that now require explicit approval, each time before an app does such a thing. But its still not malware.
What there isn't on iPhone is apps that covertly send premium rate SMS messages. But there is on Android.
âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.â
Down with Apple's model of controlling everything, it's toxic and evil.
Flashback is a trojan, not a virus. And it only affects OS X, not iOS. If someone knows of an actual virus for iOS (and for OS X too by the way) I'm very interested to know about it.
> "under the wait of repeated malicious"
> "under the weight of repeated malicious "
>
> "It takes a determined idiot to make a spelling mistake when copying and pasting from a website."
No, All it takes is someone using a Speech Recognition (SR) system.
"wait" and "weight" are pronounced exactly the same way and so identifying the actual word intended by the speaker is harder for the software. The software converts speech to text so quickly these days that most people cant keep up with it and hence miss the chance to proof read whats been produced. Yes, they could make the time to do so after each utterance, but that destroys the flow of how people use SR so it falls by the wayside.
As the price of NaturallySpeaking (From DragonSystems, now owned by Nuance) has dropped to a very low levels (especially around holidays), many more people are using it (and saving themselves from carpal tunnel problems, and/or being able to type a lot faster. 100+ wpm ). Add to that the inclusion of Microsoft's Speech Recognition with Windows, and you have a situation where you are going to have tons of these "speako"s . (Speako is the term which SR users created to label situations where the SR software has generated the wrong text in response to an utterance.)
So something in ewe may want to criticize other peoples work on Slashdot. Eye believe that comes from the lesser part in ewe and ewe should ignore that impulse. It only adds to the noise and generates no extra value or information.
If ewe want to attack this problem, I suggest ewe work on redesigning English as its inconsistencies and lack of word uniqueness are the core of the problem. A long time ago Germany actually past sum loss two fix sum of the tissues with the German language and those changes were successful. The English speaking population of the world could make changes that wood (OK, I'll stop doing that now :-) improve the usability of English. First and foremost would be to normalize spelling around the phonetics of words. Now that we have speech recognizing computers, phonetic drift will slow down and may even stop, just as spelling drift (mostly) stopped when enough of the people in a given population learned to read and write. So a fixed phonetic spelling could become stable and (mostly) unchanging.
Item number two would be simplifying and standardizing punctuation. Each punctuation symbol should have only 1 use, and the use should be a standard and formal one. Example an apostrophe should only be used to show ownership. Contractions dont need an apostrophe so they are simply dropped from cant, dont, its, wont etc.. (So how did "will not" become the contraction "won't" anyway? Thats not a contraction. If it were a contraction it would be "wil'nt" or "willn't". )
Then consider the problem of words that sound the same but have different meanings. These have to be fixed. examples: read, reed, and to two and too. And red and read.
Then there are words that are spelled the same and sound different, examples read and read: "I will read the book." "I have read the book." etc.. Also normalizing verbs. Add "ed" to all verbs for past tense: climbing - climbed is the standard pattern so how about: reading - readed, sleeping - sleeped, sweeping - sweeped, etc..
OK, Thats the basic idea. Go tuit. :)
Sincerely yours,
George Humphrey, founder of the Society for Apostrophe Conservation Solutions. ( SAPS ).
(send any corrections to 1uehr, 'cause I dont char. :) )
And I doubt that the security advantage will keep after all. Give it a bit more time and iOS will be just as virus plagued as Android is. That is to say, not at all for the careful user that realizes these devices are full computers with permanent network connections. I highy doubt iOS is fundamentally more secure than Android, I believe malware authors just need a bit more time, as attacking iOS is harder (but not really hard) and the whole smart-phone ecosystem is pretty new.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I've told people for several years that Apple, Windows, and Linux are for totally different philosophies. Apple seems to be more for the creative content producers, that don't really want to know how the computer works, or play with it, they just want to focus on whatever it is that they want to do. They may pay a premium, and have a severely limited selection, but they are getting what they want. Windows seems to appeal to the largest percentage of the consumer market and industry. It's got everything under the sun available for it, and is fairly well locked down, but with some work you can dig into it and do some limited customizing.
You didn't think I was going to leave out Linux/Android, did you? My personal favorites, but I don't recommend them for everyone. They seem to appeal to the tinkerers and hackers, not afraid to get their fingers burned or let the magic smoke out. Linux does run most of the Internet though, and most smartphones, and a lot of tablets now, and Google and Yahoo! and Ebay, and 9 out of 10 financial institutions, and is embedded in most home routers and god-knows-what-all. Just not most desktops.
When you want something built, come see me. If you want correct grammar and spelling, get a F*ing liberal arts student.
Thanks for the clarification. So, Flashback isn't malware? Or are you just splitting hairs?
When you want something built, come see me. If you want correct grammar and spelling, get a F*ing liberal arts student.
No I just wanted to clarify it since there is a huge difference between a trojan and a virus.
Then we get back to the concept we have as a society that money == automatic quality. We have this misplaced notion that paying money to a strict central authority makes something either better or more secure.
My thought exactly... it is not necessarily because a platform is currently less plagued that it is more secure and I won't be splitting hairs w/ you... part of the reason is I am not really sure how I would go about splitting hairs anyway :p
Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that
I have no problems with my Android and feel fairly safe. It is true that by default you cannot define which permissions to allow, the OS still doesn't have that option (4.0.3) but it can easily be solved if you have even a bit of knowledge.
I use LBE Security, an app that allows you to configure which permissions an application can use. You can for instance allow a wallpaper to use your GPS to determine location for weather reports, and network, but deny its permissions to read SMS and access contacts. And that's if you REALLY wanted to use it, because otherwise just reading the permissions list would show you that some would not make sense.
These days more and more developers are careful about not using permissions they dont need, because Android users give them some flak for that.
Another must have tool is DroidWall, just start with a Deny All and configure your iptables rules when an app needs Wifi or 3G access, so you get fairly decent firewalling.
Don't be surprised to see that text show up next to dancing silhouettes on a colorful background in an advertisement.
You touched the important thing here. There HAVE been malware on iOS. The difference toward Android is that Apple actually takes responsibility and ships updates to fix these issues. Google, the handset manufacturers and the carriers all blame each other with the result that an Android phone in general does not receive patches at all, ever.
Oh, but you can always root your device and trust some dude called Cyanogen to have the same thing on Android. Exactly the same thing.
Wow... the last time I saw such rampant fanboyism is when I badmouthed the original iPad here on Slashdot on the day of release. Of course, every one of my comments was completely on the mark... and this from someone who still has an original iPad that gets used when I take business trips and almost no other time in my life. But I digress.
Seriously? I had to do a doubletake when I read the summary, and had to take a few more when I read the article. I have run an Android phone for over a year now and I am seriously happy with it. It's not failing under the "crushing weight of viruses" any more than my aging but still useful iPhone 3GS is (I use it as an iPod because I bought into the iTunes ecosystem years ago and it happens to integrate beautifully with my car). I install apps on both depending on my utilization and needs, and neither has been unduly burdened with malware. Of course, my Android phone actually tells me what an application wants to do while I install it, thus providing the knowledgeable user some modicum of security. And yes, every app I install I read those and make a decision whether the app is asking for appropriate rights or not. And yes, I've refused some apps because of it. Of course, I AM a knowledgeable user and that kind of security doesn't help Joe Schmoe with his free smartphone with a 2 year contract and no lube... but one of the central tenets of security is that people are the weakest link in any security chain and that will never change.
So far I've found my only complaint with Android is that it fails under the crushing weight of battery technology that can't cash the check the manufacturers of the device wrote. But at least with Android I can have a second battery hanging around that I can swap in at any time... can't do that with an iPhone unless you're a really determined hardware hacker. Yes, I can improve it slightly by turning off all my antennae but then I am running a dumb phone with games on it... I have a smartphone so it can be connected anywhere at any time. Of course, many of the apps I install probably don't help... but that's a choice I make. Because the charging port is completely standard I just took my charger and left it at work; I use my Kindle's charger at home to keep my phone charged at night because really... how often do I need my Kindle?
As a past and current iOS user (sometimes), AND an Android user I find the article FUD. Actually, can I mod it trollbait?
Some Mac users are stuck up and bought into the cult. I am a Mac user, but I'm also an Android smartphone user. I have had iOS devices and my iPhone 3GS still does sterling duty as a portable music box mostly used in my car.
I like the Mac because it's UNIX. I like the Mac because my 13" Macbook Pro is one of the nicest designed and manufactured laptops I've used in the last few years. I like the Mac because most of the time the OS gets the hell out of my way and lets me get my work done. For two years I tried to be a pure Linux user and failed because I spent (in my opinion) far too much time fiddling with the OS to get it to do what I wanted that I got less work done. And this from someone who has come from a background admin'ing AS/400's and Mainframes, through Solaris, HP-UX and even AT&T Unix at one job... now admin'ing VMware, Windows, Linux and still some Solaris stuff here and there (though mostly a storage guy these days).
Don't tar all Mac users with the same brush, mate; I use it because it's what works for me. If it doesn't work for you or you have some political bias against it then power to you... but for my needs I have used plenty of other platforms and returned to the Mac because for me... well... it just works.
However, I will say for the record that I don't for a second buy into the "secure by default" idea. The Mac's security is good, but so is Windows 7's. Pick you poison but in any large codebase there WILL be holes... and with a compelling desire to make money and/or steal ideas there will ALWAYS be malware for any platform.
Funny. Everybody I know of who runs Windows can be slotted in one of two categories:
-Runs the computer with a modicum of common sense. Doesn't click "free cat wallpaper" links on ihaxyou.com. Lets Windows run its updates.
-Does everything in his/her power to wreck the computer.
The few that are in the second category deserve to be hacked, really. It's like complaining that your car sucks because you didn't do your oil change for five years and used summer tires in winter.
That is a distinction that the study apparently did not make, because it talks about "malicious code" rather than viruses. In fact, most of the malicious apps that one hears about are spyware or trojans rather than viruses.
The real issue here is the Flashback is a Java exploit pretending to be a Flash install. Neither of these technologies even exist in iOS.
If someone knows of an actual virus for iOS (and for OS X too by the way) I'm very interested to know about it.
It only effected morons that didn't know changing the default password after jail breaking was a good idea, but there was the ikee worm. More a flaw in the fleshy bag of water holding the phone than it's OS, but still a self replicating piece of malware all the same.
one supposes that 'accountability' might work so long as one is dealing just with people trying to earn a living. try that in rl, away from software: no way. and anyway, accountability is not worth the cost it imposes, regardless of what the benbefits might be. death to apple and unending torture to accountability!
for the most convoluted, grammar-challenged, nonsensical summary of the year! Who on God's green Earth writes this crap?
On how you can actually audit the security on any app installed on an Android, or how apple should add more options to let users review permissions for installed apps on iOS. I'm sorry, but this is BS. My Mom will NEVER understand what is appropriate and what isn't, nor should she have to. Apple is attempting to make that safe for her to do with something simple and easy to understand without overwhelming her with tons of things that she has no clue about anyway.
And guess what, my mom is about as tech savvy as 99% of the folks out there with iPhones. It's all well and good to talk about what we developers (who know all the ins and outs, and who stay current by spending hours of our time every week reading about what's new) would like, but shouldn't we be thinking along the lines of how do we protect those not in the know from those with malicious intent?
Isn't that what Apple is doing? (I'm not saying their approach is without flaws, but doesn't it seem like they're continually marching towards that end?)
upgrade to ICS--I suppose that is coercion?
while Apple's iOS remained free of malware, despite owning 30% of the mobile smartphone market in the U.S.
Really? That number in that question? Do you think malware takes the US market share into consideration? Don't you think the global market share would be the only relevant number if citing share percentage numbers related to global malware proliferation? Or malware is only written and distribute themselves in the US? If so tell us, so we can disconnect the rest of the world, just to be on the safe side.
And oh, yes, please don't leave iOS's superiority out of the paragraph either, since it's so quite obvious that is must be its superiority, since it's so... superior and all.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
I bet there are people who have read this and wish there was an interesting (-1) mod!
Actually, human beings are social animals, and accountability can actually worsen security if it weakens a perception of a bond of trust, which might very well be more effective. Accountability can be circumvented, expectations of honesty cannot. In terms of the cash register, keeping the balance is probably a good idea, but there are other situations and I just wanted to nuance this very American notion that interpersonal trust is equal to weakness.
toresbe
It is true that a lot of iPhone users have children of exceedingly low intelligence, but I'm not convinced that the correlation is indicative of causation in this case.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Wow...how times have changed. Back in the day, it was anything you do is safe, because you did what you told. If not, you were somewhere you shouldn't have been, or doing something you shouldn't have been doing...it's probably your fault. Long gone are the days of personal responsibility.
There are 2 groups of people you can make fun of on the Internet without fear of attack. The illiterate, and the Amish.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5885438/bluetooth-pairing-without-user-confirmation
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9988051/taking-screenshots-without-knowing-to-the-user-in-android-application
What a load of old rotten apples .. Of course what they are actually saying is iOS is a pile of crap but if we shout load enough about how good it is then the apple fanboys will sing it's parise (cus they been brain scrubbed by the hyperbole that is apple) and thats all apple is hyperbole pure and simple .
I'm sure there will be plenty of hair splitting by the apple afficionado's but just about every app I load, whether ios or android, all wants access to data they dont need and many transfer stuff like my name, phone number and who knows what else. I've had quite a few that broke my device or gave it some real problems, again on both platforms. I call that malware. It steals my stuff (although I agree to the theft because if I didnt, I'd have no apps) and often eats my battery life or gives me operational problems requiring an uninstall and reboot.
Sure seems like badware to me!
IOS = Formula 1 Droid = Demolition Derby
Microsoft Phone = a hobo standing by the Interstate with his thumb out
You'll notice that "auditing every bit of software (you) install" is ridiculously easy. The installer tells you what rights the app needs when you install it.
Aha!!!
THAT IS THE FLAW.
That is my biggest problem with Android. At the time you are asked for permission you have NO CONTEXT as to what it is asking you for.
Wants contacts? Could be just to email friends. Who knows? You have not run it yet.
Furthermore by presenting a laundry list MOST people cannot really comprehend you are simply guaranteeing people will accept without a second thought, leaving a handful of people who actually audit the apps that they run.
This is the most asinine possible approach to security on mobile devices, simply a kind of continuation of the same "the user needs to be a sysadmin, sounds reasonable to me" kind of think that has kept the PC world in the dark ages for so long.
iOS asks for permission at the time the app wants to use a protected resource (like location). You can do that without having a Vista-esque nightmare, and it means when you answer the question you know what you did to trigger it.
Only iOS lets the user make an INFORMED choice.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I would argue true fascism is to give people only one choice, the unprotected path under which those not fully aware can suffer mightily.
Under iOS, you can have the protected path (default), or for the knowledgeable the FULLY unprotected path of Jailbreaking.
This is a far better system. Those who can understand what they are doing get full access; those who cannot get the help they need to keep malware off their phones and not have to "maintain" them.
The proof of this assertion is ongoing and right in front of you simply as noted in the fact that Android has malware and iOS does not.
To claim all is roses is your land while the citizens lay dying all around you is either high comedy or high ignorance.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Last time I checked, there were plenty of reports of malicious iOS apps clandestinely hoovering up your private data/contacts
Wrong. Name even two apps.
The facts are, NO app can "hoover" any private data.
SOME apps were gathering contact details (most famously Path). That has been corrected in the next update, it will ask for permission as for location services.
With that action there is no path an app can take to "hoover" your data unbeknownst to you, and many forms of data there's no path to get to in any way (for app store apps) unlike Android.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Please define "misery" in this case?
Wow! What a fair and unbiased comparison! A year old iOS version
To be fair he's an Android user, he doesn't realize people with phones older than six months have an option to upgrade under other OS's.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Seriously. I have an iPhone 3GS which I want to jailbreak to use with another phone carrier,
Well there's your first problem, jailbreaking and unlocking are different things.
But just call AT&T and tell them to unlock it, they'll do that for free (they just started allowing unlocks).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
(Shrug) At the end of the day you can't fight Darwin. The right to destroy yourself through your own stupidity is perhaps the most fundamental of all. Apple tries to take this right away from its users.
Incompatibility with GPL licenses, disincentive to release gratis software, inability to freely run and distribute custom apps, inability to compete with native apps, app content censorship, app functionality censorship (tethering)...I think that's enough for now.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I still don't like walled gardens. I will stick to Android or even Windows Phone.
Here's a much better method for optimising security on your smartphone or tablet:
DON'T INSTALL WORTHLESS SHIT
Apple's App Store and Google's Marketplace make Sturgeon's Law seem like hopelessly naive pollyanna-ish optimism. They each may have a few hundred thousand apps, but less than one in ten thousand or so are worth even looking at, let alone installing.
I would like to remind all the naysayers about Charlie Miller's little experiment. He specifically put a Command and Control background process inside of a stock ticker app, and the ONLY reason he got "caught" is because he announced it was malware specifically. The command and control server, if I recall correctly, abused a browser bug (to accelerate the browser, JS code was executed in unsandboxed, which is a very stupid decision) and was able to access far more than what a normal app would have access to.
Mind you, he didn't DO anything with it... However, any number of devs could be doing the same thing. If they don't announce it and keep it on the down-low (i.e. used for DDOS, email spams, and not messing with the user's device, who's going to know? Nobody else can scan for malware.
So just because you decide to stick your head in the ground and hold your hands to your ears doesn't make it the way you want.
Charlie Miller's Stock ticker. Whitehat command and control exploiting a browser bug for much wider access than the default sandbox allows.
Storm8. They "accidentally" accessed your phone number and transmitted it to their servers, when apps are not permitted to access your number by default.
Lord knows what else is out there, since the only reason why Charlie Miller was caught was because he announced it publicly. Remember, nobody else can do an effective virus scan, because mass application downloads are not permitted.
Unfortunately, Android has been hijacked by the carriers and handset manufacturers. There is no "Android" phone any more, only handset manufacturers (who screw up Android) and the carriers (who have no regard for Android security). Consider ..
Much of the Android vs iDevice confusion is based on the new Mobile Market:
1 - Carrier: Verizon, ATT, etc
2 - Handset Mfgr: Apple, Samsung, etc
3 - OS: Android & iOS
Notice that Apple controls 2 out of 3. Google controls 0 out of 3.
Zero? WTF? Think about it. You get a Samsung phone (2). They "improve" Android, leaving you with a big unknown in terms of OS (3). Carrier: Apple imposes HUGE restrictions on the carriers .. they act as a middle man between the consumer and the carrier. Google, OTOH, has zero control over the carrier.
We may not like it, but Apple has huge advantage over the security of their devices.
IOS = Formula 1 Droid = Demolition Derby
Microsoft Phone = a hobo standing by the Interstate with his thumb out
What about "WebOS" or "Palm" or "Meego" ???
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Sorry; you must have mistaken me for an iOS developer. I am an end-user.
Nothing on your list gets within shooting distance of "misery" for me, except perhaps tethering, which is now a non-issue since Verizon changed their data plans. Now I tether effortlessly.
The non-Apple apps that I use the most are Fandango, Flickr, Zillow, Facebook, Kayak, and VLC. These were all free. You claim there is a disincentive to releasing free software, and though it's not apparent to me, I'm willing to take your word for it.
On the other hand, I understand developers like to get paid, and given that my nephews have had more than five hours of fun playing "So Long Oregon" on the iPad, I'm don't begrudge the author the two dollars they were asking for. I remember when all they wanted was Nintendo DS games and those cost thirty dollars each. Even now - today.
No competition with Apple apps? Look at it from my point of view: I don't care that there aren't ten different apps for playing music, seven for chatting, five for browsing the web, and three for reading email. To me, it's a challenge and an accomplishment to just get ONE DAMN SONG onto the thing, from my computer to the iPad, and get it to play. And hey! It turns out I don't have to. If I bought it on the computer, now it just shows up on the phone.
Do you understand my point of view? I am far from miserable. Maybe the traditional car metaphor will help. Playing music on this thing is as essential and obvious as a steering wheel is in a car. You're saying I should be miserable, because there isn't a thriving market for installing a second steering wheel in my car. I just do not care. And there are millllllliiions of me.
IOS = Formula 1 Droid = Demolition Derby
Microsoft Phone = a hobo standing by the Interstate with his thumb out
What about "WebOS" or "Palm" or "Meego" ???
They overdosed at the shelter.
120 characters ought to be enough for anyone
Banks charging $12 per month to have a checking account (and thus a reloadable debit card) unless you keep a $1,500 minimum balance is bad enough. Cellular carriers charging $30 more for a smartphone than for a dumbphone (source: virginmobileusa.com) is even worse.
The $25 is a lifetime subscription, while the $99 runs out after a year. This difference is important to students and hobbyists, especially in countries that aren't among the richest.
"as the competing Android platform strains under the weight of repeated malicious code outbreaks"
Really.....
Back in any day, if you did what you were told, you turned into a nice drone and were assimilated with the sheeple.
When you did what you pleased and bothered none, you found the world opened up and you were its master.
Personal responsibility is for all, not just the mamas boys.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
I disagree. Sheeple are those who do what they're told, believe every rumor, and don't question anything. There has to be a small measure of order at the foundation so you have a frame of reference to pull back from the chaos when it gets out of hand. To be able to think for one's self and be a responsible individual. Moderation in everything, including moderation. There are just as many sheeple on one side of the fence as there are the other. Critical thinking and personal responsiblity is almost non-existent.
There are 2 groups of people you can make fun of on the Internet without fear of attack. The illiterate, and the Amish.
Setup was easy with a GUI installer, that you could just kinda click through, either replacing your main OS, or installing it side by side. Setup automaticly installs LightDM Desktop manager(GUI login screen), and boots to a gnome 3 desktop.
no configuration was needed to get the sound working, to print, and three years before Apple had the "app store" Ubuntu had the "software center" for one click installs, which is present in mint, a derrivative. It even scans for, and prompts you if you want to install propretary drivers automaticly, and both nVidia, and AMD both have good native drivers for linux.
Its far easier to use and setup than windows XP, and I have no idea about vista or 7 because I never installed them on a machine.
I'll make a further point, my technologically incompetant friend not only runs linux mint, but installed it himself on his computer, by himself. He cannot install windows though. He can't put together a webber grill (one screw, three legs). Now, if you'd said you needed mainstream application support like Photoshop, AVID, or those other applications that only run native in on MAC/Windows, I'd understand, but I don't want to hear from anyone configuring a linux box is too much of a pain, or even hard, herin 2012 AD