Apple, Google 'need to improve smartphone security'

The practice of "security by obscurity" on the Apple's iOS needs to improve as smartphone adoption increases, according to Blue Coat US vice president of Cloud services, Anthony James.

James, an ex-pat Australian who has worked in the US for 10 years with security companies such as Fortinet, said iOS users have been lulled into a false sense of security because Apple doesn't check an application for security controls before it is published.

"They've had this whole sense of security around to get an application published, you need to go through their scrutiny," he said. "They don't check for security controls but for inappropriate content with the app," he said. He pointed out that a US principal research consultant called Charlie Miler was able to exploit a bug in iOS which could stock the Apple App Store with malware-infected apps.