As there are more and more mobile phone makers that favour the use of Android as its operating system, the same thing happen to the cybercrime activity that relates to this revolutionary mobile phone system. The number of attacks that Android users are experiencing nowadays is increasing and this concerns them.
Android has a big potential to become a primary operating system (OS) for smartphones as its biggest rival, iOS by Apple Inc is exclusive for iPhones only while Android can be used by various smartphone brands like Samsung and HTC. The newest OS in the smartphone market, the Windows Phone 7 is still new and currently gaining its crowd but Android will already a huge and loyal customer base by the time Windows Phone 7 gains the same reputation as Android.
The problem about Android and cybercrime like malwares and viruses lies in the security structure of the OS. This is because building an application that can gain access to sensitive OS resources like location of the users is pretty easy. However, this shall not be the sole reason to avoid using Android, as the Windows OS for desktop are always vulnerable to malwares but thanks to the antivirus software available in the market, the problem is being controlled.
The main problem for the surge of malwares into Android OS is mainly because Google did not check the apps before they are being released on the Android Market. Another reason is that Google’s modus operandi is slow to respond to the users’ complaints regarding infected apps in the Android Market. This is really different from what Apple implements in their App Store, where they practice a stringent safety measures and quality control for the apps to be released in the market.
Google must really buck up their efforts to control the malwares threats lurking in their applications in the Android Market. Even though there is already a Google web page to complain those infected apps that are already being released, Google must take major improvements rather than taking this simple approach. As the old saying goes, preventing is certainly better than nursing. They must take a more proactive approach on screening and testing the apps before they are being released on the market. Furthermore, Google can also take Apple’s tactic to limit the selling of applications to a single place only, where any apps for the iPhone can only be downloaded from the Apple App Store. This is because by making the Android apps available at other stores, it will be hard to control all the apps that are available for downloads.