Google Android’s security team have asked security experts to ‘ethically hack’ their platform and report back privately on what they find. I think this is a smart approach but how they’ll get much of what they find resolved in time for the upcoming HTC Dream release will be interesting.
I think that it will be interesting to compare security on the different platforms given the the ‘openness’ of Android relative to closed platforms such as the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Although the iPhone is a closed platform it is generally not considered secure enough for most enterprises to embrace it yet. This is perhaps reinforced by the simplicity of the latest password hack for the iPhone.
Blackberry is generally considered secure (if you enforce the appropriate policies) with the occasional hiccup(!). Windows Mobile is becoming more security conscious with each release and at least has the concept of signing applications as does Symbian.
