14 DAY TRIAL // We live in a paranoid world, in which everyone tries to make their communication devices as safe as possible from prying eyes (antennas).
Since whistleblower Edward Snowden exposed that UK intelligence agency GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) uses special software to access phones without the knowledge of the owners, handset makers and consumers alike have been obsessed with privacy.
It has become common knowledge that Android is the most insecure mobile platform available on the market. Google finds new vulnerabilities each month, and even though the company informs Android OEMs of these problems, few are willing to patch them up and push security updates to affected phones.
In an interview for What Mobile, white hat hacker Steve Lord offered his opinion on which mobile operating system he thinks is currently the most secure.
Your smartphone can never be secure enough
According to him, all mobile OSes that are used these days have benefits and downsides, but he thinks Windows Phone is the hardest to hack.
“Currently Windows Phone seems to be the hardest nut to crack. Blackberry has a long history of being very security-focused. If I have physical access to the device, I find Android’s usually the easiest target.
“Then comes iPhone, then older versions of BlackBerry. If it’s over a network or I have to attack via email or message, Android’s usually the softest target.”
He also suggests those who can't afford newer smartphones to try and use a feature phone or an old BlackBerry 10 smartphone. A good choice will be a smartphone running Windows Phone 8 or newer, too.
Steve also says that Cyanogen OS is more secure on Android smartphones, but he also recommends that if you must use an Android phone, then you should get one of the Nexus-branded devices as they usually receive security updates very often.
If you want to know more on how you can protect your phone from prying eyes, then you should definitely check out Steve Lord's full interview.