Trend Micro: iOS More Secure Platform than Android
According to Trend Micro chairman Steve Chang, iOS-powered devices are less prone to viruses and malware than Android smartphones and tablets.
Cheng believes that in the long run, Android is more likely to be hacked than iOS, due to the fact that its source code is open, allowing hackers to “understand the underlying architecture,” and find security holes.
iOS seems to be more immune to attacks, since Apple does not publish its source code, and thanks its ‘sandboxed’ approach.
For security reasons, iOS restricts each application (including its preferences and data) to a unique location in the file system – a restriction known as the application’s sandbox. The sandbox is a set of fine-grained controls limiting an application’s access to files, preferences, network resources, hardware, and so on. Each application has access to the contents of its own sandbox but cannot access other applications’ sandboxes. In other words, even if a virus makes it into the system, the underlying architecture of iOS will prevent it from replicating and spreading.
However, iOS is not necessarily a hack-proof operating system – after all, several security holes have been found and patched over the last four years.
Trend Micro builds security products for a wide range of devices, including iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, via the free Smart Surfing app.