According to our earlier report, the US government has found in a study of their own that about 80% of malware targets the Android operating system, about 0.7% for iOS, and 0.3% for Windows Mobile. Given that the Windows Phone operating system is not as popular compared to Android, we guess malware creators don’t see a need to target the operating system, yet, but we expect a day will come when those numbers rise. In the meantime to assuage the fear of Windows Phone users, Microsoft has detailed how they will go about preventing malware from arriving on their Windows Phone platform.
For starters they state that the Windows Phone Store is the exclusive distribution platform for Windows Phone apps, meaning that quality is ensured, not to mention that since it is being distributed by Microsoft, there are certain assurances one can take from it. They then state that every app is tested and certified by Microsoft to help weed out bad apps and malware that is disguised as an app, and lastly they claim that when malware is detected, they will remove it, which is more reactionary rather than preventive, but like they said, no system is perfect.
While having an exclusive app store and a team reviewing and certifying apps does help, you might recall it wasn’t too long ago that researchers managed to slip malware past Apple’s app review team, but once again, no system is perfect but it’s something worth taking note of.
Filed in . Read more about Malware, Microsoft, Security and Windows Phone.