The conventional answer to this question is that Apple’s “walled garden,” which places restrictions on app developers, creates a more secure environment for iOS whereas Google’s more permissive model puts Android users at greater risk.
As I have posted here before, there is plenty of ammo to bolster that position:
- Android Zombie Uprising?
- 115 and counting … (a reference to the number of unique Android malware families)
But the story is more complicated than that. For instance, take this recent report from Appthority which finds that “iOS apps leak more personal data than do Android apps”.
The differences are not huge but they do add fuel to the fire regarding which platform is safer. Apple Insider sums it up well:
A number of questionable policies and security concerns have painted Google’s Android platform as inherently less secure than Apple’s iOS. Android does appear to be more vulnerable to malware than iOS, but mobile malware affects only one percent of apps. The larger concern, the study concludes, should be over how mobile apps handle personal information and company data.
In the end, the unsatisfying answer as to which is more secure is, you guessed it, — it depends — so pick your poison … 🙂
Inside Internet Security 