IOS Security Is Trumping Android And Financial Companies Are Noticing

iOS vs Android is an ancient discussion. The fight is still ongoing between different fanbases, however, the discussion always comes down to the security features of both platforms. The deal is as it looks which one is more secure Android or iOS?

From one perspective the answer is obvious that since iOS has fewer viruses on the platform the operating system is more secure, right? Well, kinda. The thing is that there are quite a few viruses on Apple’s operating systems starting from their smartphone OSs ending with their big desktop versions. However, the ordeal comes down to the user at hand. If a person keeps clicking on random links over the internet, visiting sketchy sites, opening every malicious email, their operating system will get viruses no matter what one is using. So to keep it simple the more knowledgeable the person is about possible security risks the fewer chances there are of infecting the system.

Although, everything is not this straightforward. If everyone was even remotely interested in the proper ways of using the internet then the virus infection statistics would go down to measly amounts. However, not everyone can and should know everything. Some people just want a simple system to utilize for their business or daily life without worrying about all of the risk involving factors. To these people as well as the simpler use of the system out of the box iOS is a surefire way to go. This is exactly why even though the production capabilities of Apple is much less than that of Android supported devices, which come in numerous shapes and sizes, it is still holding almost half of the market share in the United States alone. Although, this number quickly diminishes once we start looking at the world numbers where Apple is holding 33% of the smartphone users are utilizing products of the latter.

This is mostly why Apple is more preferred in the business sphere. It is even more popular among firms that are serving people on currency exchanges like brokerage firms. It is worth noting that lots of the times Apple products and applications are pushed to the forefront of marketing due to the very same user-friendly design and the security detail of the company. According to Axiory, one of the leading brokerage firms in the world, traders are quickly switching to iOS devices as it offers faster responsiveness and more refined feeling rather than its Android counterpart.  This is exactly why switching to Apple is a leading trend in the investors market. Not only iPhone but MacBooks and iMacs are seeing more and more use from the companies themselves in their own offices due to the sheer quality of the products and long-lasting support.

The big difference between Apple and Android products is that the software for Apple is designed by one company across all devices. Therefore, it is thoroughly tested for every iteration of their devices that are supported by the company. This is why most of the Apple products, no matter how old, still maintain their operative capabilities even years down the road while a lot of Android devices start lagging behind the more use they get. This becomes even more important due to the fact that financial companies have huge data piles of their customers’ financial assets, as well as their personal information, are starting to focus on iOS much more and dedicate fewer features to their Android apps. This is one of the main focuses in the Forex industry, where trading FX on iOS is a more reliable and trustworthy way of ensuring the safety of their customers. This is why brokers are bringing their iOS apps to the spotlight while not focusing on Android too much.

For years Apple has been perceived to be at the forefront of cybersecurity and its products impenetrable by hackers, however, in recent years things have changed drastically. Two high-profile hacks have happened in 2019. In one of the instances, the hackers utilized a vulnerability in WhatsApp to install the malware in the smartphones across all of the operating systems including iPhones. The hack would send a phone call to the users and once answered, the fraudulent user utilized the service to overtake the phone.

The second time when Apple had a huge breach of security was when the Uighur Muslim population specifically in China were targetted by some websites. The malicious software was elaborate enough to figure out the identity and the location of the user and then download itself on their devices. This in the end resulted in a massive spur of spyware on their products. The spyware made it possible for hackers to infiltrate iOS and access such information as location data, photos, messages, and etc. This was put under the spotlight by the Google researchers who informed Apple in due time. The loophole was patched before this information hit public eyes.

In comparison to all of this Android presents itself as a much more open market for everyone interested in the development. The issue here is that once Google releases a security update for Android, specific vendors like Samsung for example, have to take these updates and make them available for their devices. This means that the hardware developers have to have a team that is specifically designated and responsible for taking an already existing operating system update and changing it to suit their devices. The process in itself, unfortunately, takes time and financial resources from different vendors meaning that while Samsung devices may get patched quickly other companies may lag behind and leave their phones open for security threats in the meantime.

Apart from this, Android gives its users much more user rights than Apple. This means that unsolicited software downloaded from the web can be taken and installed onto the device using .apk files. These types of software help the pirate market grow and also assist malicious users in hiding their malware inside of these popular application installations. Not only that, but Google’s Play Store is much less regulated than Apple’s AppStore. Meaning that it is much easier to upload a new application to your device on Android than it would be for Apple’s OS. There are a number of regulations present on AppStore which are not on Play Store. This is why Google has to take a stand and manually remove a lot of applications from its platform only after the malicious uses are detected by the users.