That’s the headline my latest article for the Daily Beast about the alarming rise in mobile malware, particularly on the Android platform. This is based on a new study by Juniper Networks, which sells anti-malware software. You can find the article here.
Your article is of course nonsense.
First of all it’s ONLY Android that has this issue.
Android is the “top” mobile os in what way? It sure isn’t in revenue. Not in apps. Not in customer satisfaction. Not in developer revenue. Not in anything except cheap bogo sales.
You say Android has malware because it is the most popular. Which you know is a lie. It’s because Android is a mess internally and it is easy to infect and run rampant on a device due to Google poor design.
So that’s three lies in one article which is saying something even for you.
Most of these studies are from vendors with skewed and misleading statistics, here are a few examples and why they do it:
http://www.mobileprivacy.org/2012/02/mobile-malware-fud/
There is no issue. Not on Android, iPhone, Blackberry or any other platform. SPECIALLY not on Android.
Every single app that you install on Android shows a clear permissions page with clear descriptions on what each permission means. If you have half a brain, you read the damn permissions and decide whether they’re appropriate or not. If you’re an idiot … well you had the chance to hit ‘cancel’ right there.
There is no threat. These assholes want to sell their Anti-virus shit on the mobile platforms.
Apple won’t let them in the Appstore (at least not without getting a good cut) so it’s not a market for them.
Google has a more open platform so they can write their shit and sell it. There’s one problem: Before they can sell that granbage they need to spread the fear … scare people into buying their shit.
Here’s the truth: EVERY APP on the Android runs in a “sandbox” meaning it not only can’t access other apps’ data, it’s not even aware of their existence.
Let’s assume you have 2 apps running on your Android: An Anti-Malware (or whatever the fuck these scamming douchebags call their garbage) and one of these big bad Android-only baby killing kitten squeezing malware apps (which, by the way, you FULLY deserve because a ‘naked girls’ app doesn’t need access to your contacts). The most effective thing that this anti-malware shit can do is to notify you that what you just installed will kill babies & puppies. Most of these apps are flagged as malware once a few people get screwed by them so by the time the anti-malware company adds the app to the ‘baby killer’ list, you’ve already ran the app and gotten screwed.
Save your $5, get yourself a beer, and READ THOSE FUCKING PERMISSIONS.