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ZDNet have put out a story claiming that, although Apple's walled-garden approach is not popular with everybody, it does appear to have prevented almost all malware from becoming prevalent on iOS. From the article:
Everyone knows there's no iOS malware, right? Strictly speaking, there is. As a practical matter, there isn't. At least if you stick with the official Apple store, you are more likely to win Powerball than to be hit by iOS malware.
But to make that "strictly speaking" point, FortiGuard Labs's Axelle Apvrille ("the Crypto Girl") felt it necessary to list all the iOS malware on record all 11 instances, eight of which work only on jailbroken phones.
[....]
It's not like iOS isn't an inviting target. There are zillions of devices out there and iOS customers have shown that they are willing to spend money on apps. And there absolutely are ways that iPhones can be attacked, although more likely through vulnerabilities, especially in Safari, than through malicious apps.
In fact, Apple's rules for what it will allow in its App Store are so strict that they effectively ban security software. It's a good thing there is next to no malware, because what you would need to do to block it on your phone is not permitted. Android, on the other hand, has a burgeoning market for security software and no shortage of malware.
Do you agree with this assessment?
(Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday June 15 2014, @03:52AM
I don't know if you realize how profound this statement is, but not in the way you intended it. Having the tools available is no good if the person at the keyboard isn't interested in using it. The device is in the hands of millions. You've just illustrated the value the "Walled Garden", that everybody likes to bitch about, is bringing to the security part of the equation. Your smart phone is one of the most personal things you could have in your possession. It has the photos you've taken, the contacts of your associations, a direct link into your communications services/social networking, and it has the ability to easily run up bills on your account. Do you want to be vigilant to keep it 'secure', or do you want it to be as dumb-proof as possible?
That's not a question intended to only receive one answer. There are very good reasons you could answer either way, I'm not judging you for choosing either. Me personally? I've chosen the pretend-I'm-dumb path. My phone is an iPhone, it's value is that it is as appliance-like as possible. I cannot install MAME on it, but at the same time I'm not too worried about getting malware from the App Store. I have an Android tablet I use for the tinkering stuff I like to do. If I render it unusable or it goes rogue on me, no biggie. I just don't want to combine tinkering with sensitive-to-my-personal life.
Thank you for bringing up exactly the reason the Walled Garden has value.
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