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.

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.”

New report finds iOS mobile devices are just as susceptible to attacks as Android gadgets.

As far as malware is concerned, Apple has done a good job at keeping it out of its App Store and, although it is not as much of a target for malware as is the case for Android devices, according to a report from mobile security management company, Marble Security, when it comes to Android and iOS, one is not more secure than the other.

Both operating systems carry similar risks.

According to the report, “The major security differences between iOS and Android are largely that Android is a much more open operating environment, more easily allowing users to download apps from app stores that have poor or non-existent app analysis and vetting procedures.”

However, Marble Security pointed out through its report that most of the malicious attacks on Android and iOS mobile devices typically come from the same sources. Some of these include SMS, malicious apps, or via Wi-Fi hotspots that have been compromised.

Even though Android apps can be downloaded and installed from more stores aside from Google Play, the mobile security company pointed out that even a device that has not been jailbroken can sneak past Apple’s walls through third party testing applications like TestFlight, for example, which is an app Apple acquired just this year.

Moreover, phishing attacks, particularly those in an enterprise environment where attackers can tap directly into the corporate directory and send emails or text messages to targets, is another chief security problem that is common for both mobile platforms.

The company also noted that iOS mobile devices are susceptible to a threat that can be introduced through management profiles. If the user installs a “hostile configuration profile, then the enterprise is at risk for” phony app installs, APTs, intercepted traffic and sophisticated phishing.

Malware threats may be lower but mobile security risks are still an issue for Apple.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has openly made fun of Google for Android’s vulnerabilities in the past, but clearly iOS is not exactly risk-free. That said, Apple has managed to have an overall better track record with mobile security in terms of malware, due to its tight control over app distribution and, unlike Android, when Apple releases its latest version of its operating system, the vast majority of its users upgrade to the most recent one.