BlackBerry has, for the past seven or eight years, been one of the foremost mobile brands utilized by businesses thanks to its reputation as offering a secure experience, but with Research In Motion – the company behind BlackBerry, struggling to come to terms with the changing face of the mobile industry, many small companies will be looking elsewhere for their primary mode of communication.
According to a report by security firm F-Secure, the most secure option for businesses is now Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8, and with malware and general security lapses perhaps more threatening to businesses than individuals, Windows Phone 8 looks to be in a strong position to take the helm once manned by RIM’s BlackBerry.
Apple’s iOS also frequently scores highly in terms of security, but with F-Secure putting its bonafide stamp on Windows Phone 8’s secure presence, it certainly does bode well for the immediate future of the relatively new platform. The Finnish security outfit today released its Mobile Security report, which concluded Windows Phone 8 to be the safest mobile OS on the market today. Indeed, the report revealed a sum total of zero attempted malware attacks on the platform, with F-Secure’s security chief Mikko Hypponen telling TheInquirer:
Windows Phone is safe, we’ve seen no malware at all targeting the platform. You want a safe phone? Buy a Windows Phone
He went on to note that there is currently more malware on BlackBerry and iPhone, and in all fairness, Android’s incessant troubles with malicious software outbreaks are well-documented in the mobile industry, so it goes without saying that Google’s is the least secure of the major ecosystems. In fact, Hypponen also passed comment with regards to Android, adding that malicious installations grew tenfold on the platform, and while Google will continue to laud the fact that it yields several hundred thousand new activations on a daily basis, the issue of security is very real, and growing exponentially.
He pointed to the restrictive nature of Windows Phone as to why it is not a target for malware. There is, of course, the factor of reach (or lack thereof) at this point in time, but Hypponen doesn’t believe the Redmond’s platform will be a malware target anytime soon.
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