Is your Android™ and iPhone® OS more secure than your PC?

We all work on computers at home or workplace. Most of us also have mobile phones (specifically Android phones since they are the “in” thing now-a-days), to keep in touch with our near and dear ones. Yet, with our gizmos constantly in threat of getting exposed to various kinds of malware, and we as end-users trying to take necessary precautions to safeguard them, have we ever thought which one of them is more secure, Android phone or PC?

Well, it may be tough to provide an exact answer to this question but Symantec, a leading security solution providing firm, has made an effort to crack it through one of its reports.

Is Android and iOS more secure?

Symantec in one of its reports related to mobile device security revealed that Android and iPhone OS (iOS) are more secure than PC. It may come as a surprise to many who are aware of security breaches and malware scares that have bled Android in the recent months. However, as per Symantec, Android and iOS are excellent in detecting and preventing ‘drive-by’ apps, unnoticed installations and malware. Another reason brought forth to support this stand as per Symantec is that both Android and iOS use signatures on their apps. These signatures act as an added security layer that is not available in your PCs.

Android vs iOS

Although the report does not disclose which OS is better — iOS or Android, it does mention that iOS is more secure than Android in terms of providing protection against different malware. As far as protection against data loss, malware attacks, resource abuse, and service attacks, etc. is concerned iOS stands out of the rest. However Android does not lag behind too. If we talk about isolating processes, it is better than iOS. Not only that, the research and development work that goes behind Android is praise worthy too.

Android is an open system unlike iOS. So, hackers can take control over it through rogue apps. In the month of February 2011, cyber criminals released malicious apps, which managed to steal the personal details of users by impersonating 58 legitimate apps. Google however was successful in fixing this issue with Android.

Nevertheless, every new version of your Android or iOS phone comes with considerable improvement over its previous one. To add to this, you always get a genuine OS with your Android or iOS-based phone, which is not always the case with every PC that you buy. All these aspects tilt the balance in favor of your Android phone and iOS phone.