Adrian Ludwig believes Apple has done a great job with iOS. The firm has convinced people the software is completely secure – even though it's not.
Speaking at WIRED Security, Google's head of Android security said the importance of such safeguards underpin everything about the OS. He added that the firm will know it's succeeded "when Obama is using an Android device" before adding "we’ve heard rumours, but I can’t confirm anything.”
When it comes to Android security, that’s only one of the appealing factors about the phone, according to Ludwig. “I think of the people who can afford £15 phones and have to buy the cheapest device available to them, and they usually buy an old Nokia or Android. An Android is what’s used when these people are fleeing a state that has persecuted them.”
While security has historically been something reserved for the elite, Android is now hoping to offer that kind of high-level security to anyone – including those migrants picking up their phones.
Read more: How Google's bug bounties reward you for hunting out flaws in its Android software
“Security used to be prohibitive. At this point, devices have evolved where everyone can have multi-layered security. We have, from the very beginning, thought about making devices available to all different types of people.”
Ludwig spoke of Android’s Safety Net - a system on Android that protects data, subtly, without interfering with the owner’s experience. One of its flagship features is that it scans for unsafe apps on the phone regularly, unless you’re in Russia, where it’s every day. “How does it work? It checks the security status on devices fairly regularity. The point being is that we’re bringing in this data, analysing it, and then seeing what we can do to improve things.”
So what's the future of this programme? Reactive notifications similar to those emails you get when you log into Facebook in another country.
The media has often stoked fear around the risk to mobile phones, but the reality is that very small number of Android phones are at risk, according to Ludwig. “It’s not unique to Android.”
“My belief is that, at a platform level, that needs to be everywhere. A safety net is the beginning. Ultimately our belief is you need to be able to get applications from anywhere. Openness is a fundamental belief of how Android works.”
US-based Ludwig is responsible for the security of the Android ecosystem, protecting more than 1.4 billion mobile devices and the operating system, apps, and services that run on them.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
