Android Is Now as Safe as the Competition, Google Says (cnet.com)

In an interview with CNET, David Kleidermacher, Google's head of security for Android, Google Play and Chrome OS, said Android is now as safe as the competition. From the interview: That's a big claim, considering that Android's main competitor is Apple's iPhone. This bold idea permeates the annual Android Security Report that Google released Thursday. "Android security made a significant leap forward in 2017 and many of our protections now lead the industry," the report says on page one. Echoing the report, Kleidermacher told CNET that Android flaws have become harder for researchers to find and that the software now protects users from malicious software so well the problems that used to leave users exposed to bad actors aren't such a big problem anymore.

Comments

Re:Where are the permissions logs?

[Anonymous Coward]

Honest question: Where can I find this in iOS?

1) Open the Settings App.
2) Scroll to the app you wish to check.
3) You now see a list of permissions, such as "Location", "Notifications", Background App Refresh", ... You can turn each one on or off.

You can also see all apps which might use a permission in one list:

1) Open the Settings App.
2) Choose "Privacy"
3) Select the permission you wish to control.

You now see a list of apps that requested the permission. You can enable or disable each app.

I have mixed feelings about iOS in general, but this is one thing that iOS does exactly right.

Re:Where are the permissions logs?

[orient]

DTEK by BlackBerry does exactly this. Plus it can alert you when an app tries to access a certain resource (microphone, camera). Plus it can allow/deny access to each resource individually, unlike Google's all-or-nothing approach. Even if you grant all permissions when you install an app, when the app tries to actually access any resource (camera, microphone, address book, local files etc.) you get a prompt to allow or deny access to each of the resources requested. And, yes, it comes installed on the Android BlackBerry phones. I don't have another Android phone, so I can't tell of it's only available for BB phones or not.

Re:Where are the permissions logs?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Honest question: Where can I find this in iOS?

Go to "Settings", then scroll down. The bottom 80% of the main Settings menu is a list of all your apps. Click on any one of those to see what permissions it has asked for and/or been granted.