According to security-software maker Trend Micro Inc., Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices is more vulnerable to hackers and viruses than Apple’s iPhone platform. Steve Chang, chairman of Trend Micro, the world’s largest provider of security software for corporate servers, said that this is because Android is open-source, which means the hacker can also understand the underlying architecture and source code. “We have to give credit to Apple, because they are very careful about it. It’s impossible for certain types of viruses to operate on the iPhone,” he said.
Google offers Android for free and allows developers access to its code for writing software. Apple, whose iOS software now trails Android in smartphone market share, requires every application to be approved before being sold in its online store. “On all computing devices, users necessarily entrust at least some of their information to the developer of the application they’re using,” Google said in an e-mailed statement. “Android has taken steps to inform users of this trust relationship and to limit the amount of trust a user must grant to any given application developer.”
On Jan. 7, Tokyo-based Trend Micro released Mobile Security for Android, software that users can install on a mobile phone to block viruses, malicious programs and unwanted calls. Trend Micro aims for the $3.99 application to help it gain revenue from the more than 250 million phones that are expected to run on Android by 2014.
