Verizon customers and others who are picking up iPhones and iPads can rest assured that their shiny new iOS devices are going to be less likely than Android smartphones and tablets to pick up viruses and malware.
In a recent interview in Taipei, Trend Micro chairman Steve Chang said that Google’s Android operating system is more susceptible to hacker attacks and viruses than iOS. Chang ought to know; his company is the leader in security software for corporate servers.
Chang noted that Android, which is an open-source operating system, makes it easy for hackers to “understand the underlying architecture and source code.” He went on to say that Apple’s sandbox concept “isolates the platform, which prevents certain viruses that want to replicate themselves or decompose and recompose to avoid virus scanners.”
That doesn’t mean that iOS devices won’t get hit with viruses or other malware in the future. Chang commented that iOS devices could be compromised by social-engineering attacks, in which users are scammed into downloading or installing malicious software.
Trend Micro makes security products for both the Android and iOS platforms. Their free Smart Surfing app for iPhone and iPad is a web browser that calls upon the company’s Web Reputation technology to block users from visiting malicious web pages.
[via Electronista]
Trend Micro says iOS a ‘more secure platform’ than Android originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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