Google’s attitude toward these sorts of exploits is irresponsible, to say the least.
From a security standpoint, Android was set up much the same way Windows 95 was. Not only is the door unlocked, but it’s wide open, with a big sign painted on the door saying “no one’s home; take whatever you want.” The fact that the press hasn’t shamed Google into taking some sort of action to prevent millions of users from being exposed to outright personal data theft is irresponsible, as well.
In all that talk of open vs. closed, it seldom gets mentioned that open really means open. As in “open to all sorts of attacks from unscrupulous people.”
Again, I’m sure some clever hacker will break into iOS at some point and try to steal user information from Apple users, too. But at the very least, Apple is trying to prevent this. They put a padlock on the door, at least.
Even forgetting the theft of user data, and who knows what else (We’ll probably be seeing mobile spam bots at some point), Google should still be held accountable for allowing apps to be downloaded, injected with extra code, and then resubmitted and ACCEPTED into its own marketplace. You read that right. If you as a developer spend the time and money to build an Android app, Google will do nothing to stop other people from copying your app outright and selling it themselves on THE OFFICIAL Google store.
Talk about “open.” And people wonder why there are so few real apps for Android.
Take away these counterfeit apps, and the apps that are just ringtones or wallpapers wrapped into an app wrapper, and how many actual useful apps are on the Android Marketplace?
And note, despite this incredible example of apps being hacked and resold for malicious purposes, Google still hasn’t pulled all of them from the store. They’re still “investigating” the matter.
Even Microsoft eventually learned that you have to take the users interests into consideration once in a while. There’s no excuse for any computer company in 2011 to be simply ignoring the potential for hacking, and then hiding behind the “we’re open” philosophy as an excuse for letting it continue.
We put incredibly valuable information on our phones. These devices track where we are, where we go, our shopping patterns, who we email and text, who we talk to on the phone. Google is essentially handing that information over to anyone who wants to take it. Is that the sort of company from which you want to buy products?
