“A large part of the ongoing battle to keep a mobile device secure is to ensure that users’ devices are kept up to date with patches for exploits, bug fixes, and keeping the software secure; then the latest numbers from the two main platforms show a huge chasm in the protection offered,” Ewan Spence writes for Forbes.
“Apple’s own numbers show that 84 percent of active iOS devices are using the latest version of the mobile operating system,” Spence writes. “Meanwhile Google released its annual security report last week and included details on the update rates of Android OS… Thirty percent of active Android devices are running Android versions that are older than Android 4.4.4, the lowest version number that receives security updates.”
“This goes hand-in-hand with Google’s own monthly updates of the market share for Android devices, which currently shows the latest major version number of Android (v6.x Lollipop [sic]) is running on just 4.6 percent of active Android devices visiting the Google Play Store,” Spence writes. “Android devices are more vulnerable for longer periods than iOS devices when exploits are discovered.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The poor man’s iPhone is a stagnant cesspool.
SEE ALSO:
Fragmandroid: 95.4 percent of Google Android users are running an insecure operating system – April 21, 2016
Why so few Android phones are encrypted vs. Apple’s iPhone – March 30, 2016
Millions of Android phones open to ‘permanent device compromise’ attack – March 23, 2016
Android malware hits Aussie bank customers, iOS users unaffected – March 10, 2016
Android malware steals one-time passcodes, a crucial defense for online banking – January 14, 2016
New Android malware is so bad, you’d better off buying a new phone – November 6, 2015
Apple issues iPhone manifesto; blasts Android’s lack of updates, lack of privacy, rampant malware – August 10, 2015
New Android malware strains to top 2 million by end of 2015 – July 1, 2015
Symantec: 1 in 5 Android apps is malware – April 25, 2015
Kaspersky Lab Director: Over 98% of mobile malware targets Android because it’s much, much easier to exploit than iOS – January 15, 2015
Security experts: Malware spreading to millions on Android phones – November 21, 2014
There’s practically no iOS malware, thanks to Apple’s smart control over app distribution – June 13, 2014
F-Secure: Android accounted for 99% of new mobile malware in Q1 2014 – April 30, 2014
Google’s Sundar Pichai: Android not designed to be safe; if I wrote malware, I’d target Android, too – February 27, 2014
Cisco: Android the target of 99 percent of world’s mobile malware – January 17, 2014
U.S. DHS, FBI warn of malware threats to Android mobile devices – August 27, 2013
Android app malware rates skyrocket 40 percent in last quarter – August 7, 2013
First malware found in wild that exploits Android app signing flaw – July 25, 2013
Mobile Threats Report: Android accounts for 92% of all mobile malware – June 26, 2013
Latest self-replicating Android Trojan looks and acts just like Windows malware – June 7, 2013
99.9% of new mobile malware targets Android phones – May 30, 2013
Mobile malware exploding, but only for Android – May 14, 2013
Mobile malware: Android is a bad apple – April 15, 2013
F-Secure: Android accounted for 96% of all mobile malware in Q4 2012 – March 7, 2013
New malware attacks Android phones, Windows PCs to eavesdrop, steal data; iPhone, Mac users unaffected – February 4, 2013
6.0 is lollypop? No, idiots. I was going to share this, but nope. MDN shouldn’t share factually incorrect crap like this. Shame on you.
That would be Forbes who made the mistake. The accompanying chart in the original article recites Marshmallow there, but the text is a direct quote on MDN’s part.
Your clue should have been [sic] . That means “thus” in Latin, and is usually thought to be an abbreviation of sic erat scriptum, meaning “written exactly thus”. it is used when quoting some source, to indicate that an error preceding it was existent in the original source, rather than introduced by the writer using the quote.
Could you perhaps explain, why should MDN be ashamed, if they clearly pointed out Forbes’s mistake?
The point here is that Android updates are so obscure that not even Forbes knows what the latest update is.
Yup, the real issue is 84% iOS up to date versus 4.5% Android up to date.
All else in the writing is basically irrelevant.
At lease Android users can get timely hacks, viruses, malware and so on. Those things are always up to date for then. lol
Had an android phone – 1 year old – vendor indicated that the new android OS update wouldn’t be available for this phone. What’s the point of android updates if the phone mfr won’t update your OS?
And there is the whole point. When you buy an Android device, unless it is the most expensive flagship device, you will never get a single OS update. Not one. Never. The phone manufacturer may in fact eventually provide one system update (for example, from Ice Cream sandwich to Jellybean, but even if they do, you can bet your job that your mobile carrier won’t bother with that update and will simply suggest you change your phone.
Only flagship Android devices, costing $500 or more, get these updates from the carriers, and even they rarely get more than one. Furthermore, even when these updates are finally made available to the consumers by the mobile operators, it is usually six to nine months after Google released the OS to the public. Carriers of course need plenty of time to install their crapware and restrict features they don’t want consumers to have access to.
That is the sorry state of Android.
ONE reason I switched to the iPhone was the inability get my my less than two year old (bought when it was state of the art) updated to the latest OS from Google. Between the manufacturer, Google, and the cell company I was caught in a hellish mess of update confusion.
Then my phone had a simple problem and all three pointed the guilty finger at the other two. What a mess!