The eyes are the Windows
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Android could become as vulnerable as Windows XP
MOBILE SOFTWARE HOUSE Google's Android operating system could be "the XP of the future" in terms of security weaknesses, according to F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen.
Hypponen told The INQUIRER that Android's security weakness will increase due to its position as the most popular operating system (OS) for mobile phones.
He said, "Mobile is seeing attacks that are getting worse and worse. The mobile phones we have in our hands have security inside them that is inside our computers."
According to Hypponen, Android is "more open to different risks" because it is itself such an open OS. He said, "If you look at the growth of Android it's growing enormously and this reminds me of where we've been over the last 10 years."
"Windows XP is the weakest computer OS because it's the biggest - it's going to be the easiest to attack. I'm afraid Android will be the Windows XP of the future so it's likely to repeat."
To prevent attacks, Hypponen advised users to back up their phones. However, he added, "The most common way to get a virus on your phone is by user interaction such as an app that turns out to be a Trojan, which you install yourself."
He warned, "User education is a key part of mobile security. Bugs could spread though text message, sending to friends and friends of friends and could go around the world in seconds." µ
Tags: Security
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Thats funny referring to Windows XP when Android is built on Linux. Everyone knows LINUX is pretty much the most insecure OS on the planet. Even worse than Mac OS-X.
For the record, vulnerability counts:
Window 7 - 180
Windows XP - 450
Mac OS-X - 1,600
SUSE 10 - 3,300
Android is the best operating system in the world. Google is the best company in the world.
Google is a people company, they do so much good for free and never expect or exploit their customers. Why would anyone want to harm them.
If anything I bet it's just apple fanbois who are hacking them. Anyone who buys a apple product even a cable for them is stupid and a fanbois.
I didn't realize F-Secure was in such desperate need of new customers.
Android is, by design, several orders of magnitude more secure that Windows 7; that's bare, "unprotected" Android vs. Windows 7 with every security device known to PC-kind.
I am saddened to see Mikko spreading such malicious claptrap.
It's interesting that the same people that once put the high security of Linux down to its openess are now claiming that open source is a risk.
I don't say there is not risk in mobile computing, but it's neither tied down to Android solely nor mainly correlated to the mobile OS at all.
There is a huge shortcomings in the complete infrastructure, starting from unencrypted transfer from phone to carrier upto the dependency from companies like Apple or Google. There are for sure many other security topics to discuss but flattening the discussion to malware alone is ridiculous and counterproductive.
If guys representing security companies do this, I really get the impression that's just FUD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt).