14 DAY TRIAL // Security firm Symantec has released new data regarding mobile malware being exploited in the wild, noting that, while iOS is leader of the pack in terms of vulnerabilities, Google’s Android is still the platform of choice for cybercriminals.
Symantec’s PDF says that mobile vulnerabilities have very little to do with actual malware today. The gist of it being that you actually have to pour resources into exploiting a bug, in order to get what you call malware.
And on iOS, that hardly ever happens.
Symantec says that “while Apple’s iOS had the most documented vulnerabilities in 2012, there was only one threat created for the platform.”
On the other side of the fence, “…although only thirteen vulnerabilities were reported, [Android] led all mobile operating systems in the amount of malware written for the platform.”
You don’t even need good math skills to assess which of the two mobile operating systems is safer, but that doesn’t mean things will stay like this forever.
In fact, Symantec is convinced that vulnerabilities – such as the ones found in iOS – are likely to become an important factor in mobile malware.
However, “today Android’s market share, the openness of the platform, and the multiple distribution methods available to applications embedded with malware make it the go-to platform of malware authors,” Symantec concludes.
The firm’s report carefully points out one of the main reasons why Android is more easily exploited than iOS, that being that smartphone manufacturers make custom modifications to the operating system, modifications which open the door to malware.
iOS, on the other hand, doesn’t permit such treachery. Unless a highly motivated team of hackers with serious code skills decides to jailbreak it, of course.
Security-wary users are encouraged to give Symantec’s report a glance.