Whose Mobile Apps Are the Most Secure?
When it comes to which mobile OS people prefer, the debate is a fairly heated one—and for some, almost to the level of religious preferences or political affiliations. “Fandroids” and members of the “cult of Mac” have long bickered over which device reigns supreme. And with Windows diehards having their new phones and BlackBerry's soon to be released BB10, the debate isn’t expected to die down anytime soon.
While loyalists may never be swayed to abandon their favorite phones and tablets, those on the fence are increasingly using device and data security as a major tipping point. The truth is that Apple, Microsoft, and BlackBerry OSs all run on high performance hardware these days, so choosing who to give your hard earned money to, based purely on the devices themselves, is becoming increasingly difficult.
However, looking at the apps available to each and the varying levels of likelihood that those apps will destroy your privacy and credit, you can actually begin to establish some separation between the major players.
uTest recently released the findings of their latest “App Reputation Report.” Using Appthority, uTest’s app to judge the quality of other apps, the report doesn’t speak particularly high of either Apple’s iOS or Android. However, it does give the edge to Android apps for at least sharing less of your personal info than their Apple counterparts.
ReadWriteWeb spoke with Domingo Guerra, Appthority’s president and co-founder. He points out that, where personal information is concerned, you’re more likely to have that data shared with advertisers and analytics companies when you opt for free versions of mobile apps, as opposed to paying even less than a dollar for them. If you’re not willing to pay the developer, many other companies who thrive on your personal data will be happy to do so for you.
So it’s settled then. Android’s apps—well, the non-free versions—share less personal data than Apple’s apps, so Android reins supreme. Right? Not according to a Krebs on Security blog post (posted the same day I discovered Appthority’s report) that begins with the troubling line:
An explosion in malware targeting Android users is being fueled in part by a budding market for mobile malcode creation kits, as well as a brisk market for hijacked or fraudulent developer accounts at Google Play that can be used to disguise malware as legitimate apps for sale.
And so we’re right back where we started.
Which phone and respective OS is best? Like religions, presidential candidates, or even the best pizza joints—it depends on whom you ask.
