eli5: Why do computer operating systems have lots of viruses and phone operating systems don’t?
In: 5085
A phone is more akin to an appliance in this comparison.
In the enterprise IT world (i.e. “in the office”), infrastructure devices have OS’s – servers have Windows, Linux, etc.; routers and firewalls have their own OSs as well. However, while vulnerabilities do exist for “appliance” type items (like firewalls and routers), they just don’t offer the same scope and scale of *advantage* that a more fleshed out OS affords a would-be bad actor. As a result, it’s far more common to have to patch a server/workstation than it is the “appliances” in the environment – though vulnerabilities DO show up from time to time and they are every bit as scary – just not the same volume/frequency.
Hackers (I use that term colloquially!) could certainly exploit a phone OS if they wanted. The fish they might be able to net is simply too small for the effort most of the time, when compared to that same effort being put into exploiting mainstream OSs on PCs (or servers) with vastly more potential reward. This is why some, but relatively few, vulnerabilities exist on phone OSs. Make no mistake – apple patches ALL THE TIME to plug scary holes, and so do android phones. They DO exist – just not to the same level.
That said, simpler OSs are vastly simpler to secure as well – another blow to efficiency from a ‘hacker’ use of time perspective.
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