Security of mobile operating systems tested
By David Howells
29/06/2011
Users of Google's Android operating system have been warned over its security flaws.
The Android system, used in smartphones and tablet devices, was tested against its closest rival, Apple's iOS, and was found to provide much less security against the five main types of online threats.
Many businesses using these platforms could now look to use it systems management software in order to raise the security of their networks.
The study, which tested operating systems for threats such as malware, data loss and web-based attacks, found that Apple's system edged ahead on three out of five tests. For the remaining two tests, Android and iOS were relatively even.
Evidence of this came with the hacking of mobile devices in February where rogue apps were published to the Marketplace that stole customer's data. Since then, however, Google has patched the software to counteract the issue.
Speaking of the results, lead author of the study Peter Sparkes told computerweekly.com: "While these security provisions raise the bar, they may be insufficient to protect the enterprise assets that regularly find their way onto devices."
Adding, internet security expert Tom Parsons told forbes.com of why mobile internet security is such a big deal. "The problem is," he explained, "where is the personal information and where will it end up?
"Data could end in places where the business does not want it."
