Google Phone

Although some are predicting high standards of device security with Android, and the team working on the platform are busy publicising the high-level architecture that puts security under the remit of the Linux processes rather than VM, that hasn’t stopped anti-virus companies issuing ominous warnings about a spike in cellphone malware once handsets start hitting the market.  SMobile Systems, who are behind the SecurityShield anti-virus and malware package already available for Symbian, Palm, Blackberry and Windows Mobile systems, have today announced not only their concerns that Android’s Linux-base will more easily facilitate virus authors, but that they’re developing a retail product to help prevent against it.

“Once millions of consumers get these new devices into their hands, the thousands of hackers out there will turn their attention to the Google powered phones … The Google Phone platform will enable users to more easily access the Internet and download applications, which is great - but it will also encourage the hacking community to make new and more virulent strains of attacks” Rick Roscitt, CEO, SMobile Systems

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Datamation’s Kenneth van Wyk rolls up his sleeves and sets to work comparing the relative security strengths of the Android platform and Apple’s iPhone, using a combination of architecture documentation, premonition and feedback from the latter’s avid hacker community.  He rates them in categories of application security architecture, openness and configuration management, as well as examining how straightforward it is for third-party software to tap into the underlying safety features:

“There’s more to “openness” than just accessibility of a product’s source code. The Android team has clearly documented the process for developing and installing applications for Android, including how to interface with the underlying security framework. That openness has already resulted in at least one product vendor announcing it will be developing security applications—firewall, anti-spam, anti-malware, etc—for the platform” Kenneth van Wyk, Datamation

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As the Android platform matures, more third-party developers are looking to step on board with the Open Handset Alliance; the latest of these, with a strong background in enterprise data mobility, is California-based Sybase, Inc.  The company - who facilitate database systems that can be accessed on a variety of hardware and software platforms - espouse a concept they call “the Unwired Enterprise”, a cross-platform network that delivers data to Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm and Linux-based devices, among others.

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Less than a day since the Android announcement, and already the impact Google’s open-source cellphone package might have on stressed IT departments is throwing up disagreements around the internet.  Ken Dulaney, a Gartner analysts, paints a particularly negative picture of inter-handset operability:

“[Applications] will probably run. The question is will they run well … That’s the biggest concern about this effort. There’s not enough control exerted by Google to force this to be consistent across the board”Ken Dulaney, Gartner [via ARN]

Rich Miner, an Android developer and co-founder of the original company Google’s acquired, believes that’s not going to be an issue, however.  Although there’s no contractual guarantee that OHA members won’t develop non-consistent software, each partner has at least paid lip-service to the idea:

“[E]very member of the alliance has agreed to an antifragmentation clause. They’ve basically agreed not to fragment nor do things that would result in different versions of the platform. So we’ve built into the alliance mechanisms so that everyone agrees they won’t support that kind of fragmentation” Rich Miner, Android [via PC World]

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