As if sensing the threat of an open platform to their world of closed gardens, companies from the mobile space are trying to create FUD around the Android platform before it even launches. This from CNET, mobile security companies claim open Android and open iPhone will be a security threat. The claim that closed mobile operating systems like Symbian will be more secure than future open phones is a naked attempt to talk up their own business models in the 'mobile security' biz.
The irony is if Android or the iPhone platform turn out to be half as insecure as existing cellphones, then users will be well advised to turn off their bluetooth. There's plenty of bluetooth hacks floating out there in the wild. But its hard for users to gauge the threat of those bluetooth viruses, because until now cellphones have been closed and cellphone companies don't like to talk about bugs in their phones or offer patches.
Having open platform means security companies and developers can test the vulnerabilities of a platform and make Google or Apple to fix them. Open-ness doesn't mean that consumers will be able to trust and install every application that presents itself as benevolent. After all if anyone can write an app for Android, there will be spammers writing apps which steal your contacts or even worse. That is already scary enough; but take a look at existing mobile phones with their 'App Spam'. Like a cheap PC from a discount store, they often come preloaded with annoying and useless apps, and I can't even uninstall or replace them.
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