Apple choice of 58% enterprises, Android choice of 97% malware

By Ed Sutherland on Apr 17, 2013

A pair of reports issued yesterday really put the growth of mobile in perspective. Currently, the mobile landscape is dominated by two players – Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

While Apple is increasingly favored by companies big and small, Android has become the go-to vector for mobile malware, it seems.

Attacks involving mobile devices has risen dramatically in the space of just one year, skyrocketing to more than 36,000 instances in 2012, up from only 792 cases, according to a security research firm.

Meanwhile, large companies are adopting Apple devices at a faster clip than Android, according to another report… Read More

 

Report: Malware targeting Russian smartphones 40 times more than US

By Ed Sutherland on Sep 7, 2012

All smartphones are not created equal — at least in the eyes of malware authors. A smartphone in Russia is 40 times as likely to be infected by malware than the same iPhone or Android handset in the U.S., according to security researchers.

Product manager Derek Halliday of mobile security expert Lookout tells All Things Digital the 40-to-1 difference represents “a pretty massive gulf.” Read More

 

Windows malware found embedded in App Store app

By Cody Lee on Jul 24, 2012

It looks like Apple’s App Store troubles aren’t over with quite yet. A new report is out this afternoon claiming that Windows malware has been discovered in an Apple-approved iOS app.

Instaquotes Quotes-Cards for Instagram, a third-party title that crawls the popular photo sharing service in search of Image Quotes, is said to contain an old made-for-Windows worm… Read More

 

Apple to present at Black Hat Security Conference for the first time

By Christian Zibreg on Jul 24, 2012

Black Hat Security Conference is underway at Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas and Apple is planning to present for the first time in the event’s fifteen-year history. Warming up to hackers, the iPhone maker dispatched Dallas De Atley, its Manager of the Platform Security team, to talk iOS security.

According to the conference agenda, De Atley will “discuss key security technologies in iOS” as “Apple designed the iOS platform with security at its core”. Apple’s decision to take part in the conference coincides with a few security breaches in its mobile and desktop operating systems that routinely make headlines in the press.

Some of the recent examples include the widely reported IAP exploit and Mac malware that prompted Apple to step up its game with the new Gatekeeper feature in OS X Mountain Lion, designed to only allow for approved, signed apps from the Mac App Store… Read More

 

Android Malware Up a Shy 472% Since Last Summer

By Cody Lee on Nov 17, 2011

For years, security firms have agreed that iOS is one of the most secure mobile platforms in existence. Apple’s stringent app approval process and the limited API access it gives to third party developers has proven effective in keeping iOS safe from malware.

Google takes the exact opposite approach with its Android operating system. And while that’s proven effective in drawing in iOS defectors who don’t appreciate Apple’s ‘walled garden’ of an operating system, it also leaves its users susceptible to malicious software… Read More

 

Hacker Uncovers Serious iOS Security Flaw

By Cody Lee on Nov 7, 2011

If there’s one thing about iOS that even the skeptics can agree on, it’s how much more secure it is than Android. Several security firms have found that Apple’s mobile platform has far less malware than its Google-backed competitor.

The reason behind this is Apple’s “walled garden” approach it takes with app approvals. Applications are thoroughly screened and must meet certain criteria before they are allowed in the App Store. That hasn’t stopped one hacker extraordinaire from finding a really nasty bug… Read More

 

VirusBarrier: The First Malware Scanning App For iOS

By Oliver Haslam on Jul 12, 2011

It had to happen sooner or later, and we now have our first iOS application designed for catching and eradicating malware.

While there are currently no known malware threats to iPhones, iPads or iPod touches, VirusBarrier is aimed at scanning the files we all find ourselves sharing around our local network… Read More