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."

Comments

Re:"has kept Apple's iOS ecosystem free of viruses

[hot soldering iron]

I don't know about "free of viruses". They are currently dealing with over 650,000 Macs that are infected with the Flashback Virus. Remember, OSX (and maybe iOS, I'm not that familiar with Apple products) is based in a proprietary *nix, and there have been rootkits for *nix almost since the beginning.

Another point: when you have a walled garden, and you're the gatekeeper, you are ultimately responsible for what gets let in. Of course, you severely limit what gets let in, to reduce your chances of liability. Freedom? Not here.

Still better than Windows, but not nearly as good as the Apple fanbois want to believe.