Tag: iphone security

Mobile security issues from iPhone tracking causes China to feel exposed

The country feels that this behavior could lead “state secrets” to be revealed to spies.

The ever growing disagreement regarding mobile security and American spying activities in China has now risen to a new level as Apple has been roped into the battle, with the iPhone being branded as a national security threat by state television media.

This announcement has arrived only a small handful of months after an iPhone deal with China Mobile.

Recently, a U.S. technology group entered into a deal with China Mobile to supply that company with iPhones. China Mobile is currently the largest phone company on the globe and this accomplishment was considered to be a critical step forward in Apple’s efforts to break into the Chinese marketplace of one billion smartphone users in a more meaningful way. However, online and mobile security have become a growing source of tension between the country and the United States and now it looks as though the success of this deal may be threatened.

CCTV has added this mobile security statement to the growing pile of criticisms of brands from outside the country.

Mobile Security - Apple and ChinaThis announcement arrived in the same week that China and the United States brought high level trade talks to a conclusion and were able to take only the slightest progress in updating an agreement that was already a year and a half old regarding the $2 trillion in annual trade of high tech products.

The state broadcaster in China, CCTV, has been steadily boosting its aggression when it comes to the criticism that it has been laying down against brands from other countries. Its latest accusation was regarding the ability of the iPhone to track its user through its geolocation and positioning tech, as well as having the ability to “view the user’s home address, unit information and whereabouts.”

The report from the broadcaster suggested that some of the information released by Edward Snowden, the former contractor from the National Security Agency (NSA) had shown that some of the data that Apple collected through its smartphones was passed on to advertisers as well as American spy agencies. The broadcaster went on to say that this mobile security issue went even deeper because the data could still be recorded regardless of whether the feature was turned on, placing “state secrets” at risk along with this “sensitive” information.

Mobile security report shows equal vulnerability between Android and Apple

Marble Security has released its June threat report and found that the chances of attack are the same.

The latest mobile security report from Marble has revealed that the odds of experiencing a malicious software attack on either an iOS or Android based smartphone are equally high.

This goes against previous research that has indicated that iOS provides greater safety as a platform.

This mobile security data could come as quite a surprise to iPhone or iPad owners who had been under the impression that they were safe from the risk of malicious software and malware. The Marble research found that these two types of device have an equal vulnerability from those types of attack.

This mobile security research result jars with the long held belief that Apple devices are safer.

In the case of computers, Apple machines traditionally had a much lower instance of spam, malware, and other types of harmful software than PCs. That same feeling has migrated into the mobile sphere as smartphones have achieved greater penetration. However, the research from the Marble Labs analysis has shown that they aren’t any more or less safe than their Android counterparts.Mobile Security Problems

The study looked into the top 14 forms of smartphone security threats. In them, both platforms proved to be equally risky – and the risk wasn’t low. At the same time, the balance of the exposures were different between the two platforms. Though they are equally at risk of threats, the threats for each type of platform are not the same.

The firm also conducted an analysis of 1.2 million Android and iOS apps and published the results in its report. What it found was that news and gaming applications in iOS are the top security risks among any form of category for iPhones and iPads.

According to David Jevans, the CTO and founder of Marble Security, it is important for enterprise security managers to understand the mobile security threat over Apple devices. He pointed out that the electronics giant’s “vaunted iOS mobile security reputation hinges on its app distribution control, not on any inherent superiority of its operating system.”