Paranoid Android: just how insecure is the most popular mobile platform?
Steve Mansfield-Devine · Network Security · 2012
Google's Android platform has spawned an ecosystem inhabited by enthusiasts, geeks, hackers (in the good sense), consumers and business users all keen for the latest toys and entranced not only by the utility and attractiveness of the system but also by its openness and community atmosphere. However, there's a dark element and its name is malware. In this first of three articles, to be run over successive months, Steve Mansfield-Devine looks at why this situation has come about, why Android has become a viable platform for cyber-criminals, and the economics driving the creation of malware. Sometimes it feels like we're reliving the 1990s. Google's Android platform has spawned an ecosystem inhabited by enthusiasts, geeks, hackers (in the good sense), consumers and business users all keen for the latest toys and entranced not only by the utility and attractiveness of the system but also by its openness and community atmosphere. However, just as with earlier versions of Windows, there's a dark element and its name is malware. In this first of three articles, to be run over successive months, we look at why this situation has come about and why Android has become a viable platform for cyber-criminals.