iPhone owners are more carefree than Android users and neglect security, — study

Malwarebytes, an American company specializing in cybersecurity, has recently released interesting research results. It tried to answer the age-old question: who is more cautious on the Internet — iPhone or Android users? This time, it’s not about the speed or cameras of smartphones, but about people’s behavior — how cautious they are online and how often they fall victim to fraud.

The study involved more than 1,300 respondents from the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Age groups and regions were evenly represented. The most interesting result of the study is as follows: 53% of users iPhone admitted to being victims of online fraud, while among users of Android There were 48% of them. The difference is not very big, but it is noticeable.

However, the difference becomes more noticeable when we consider high-risk behavior. For example, 47% of iPhone owners have bought something on unknown websites just because of the lower price. Among Android users, the share of such desperate people is much smaller and amounts to 40%. At the same time, 41% of iPhone users have written to sellers on social media to get a discount — as opposed to 33% of Android users.

Android users are more concerned about digital security than iPhone owners. For example, they are more likely to install additional security software on their devices — 29% vs. 21%. And only 35% of iPhone users use unique passwords for different accounts, compared to 41% of Android users.

Why is there such a difference? The reason seems to be not in technology, but in psychology iOS was originally designed as a closed platform with a focus on security and privacy. This gives users the impression of absolute protection. And while Apple does indeed do a lot for security, this illusion of omnipotent protection can play a cruel trick. Malwarebytes reports that 55% of iPhone owners believe their smartphones are completely secure. This is a dangerous overconfidence that can lead to rash decisions.

In reality, no smartphone is 100% secure. iOS, like any other software, is just code written by people, and it has bugs and vulnerabilities. For example, the recent iOS 18.6 update fixed a number of critical security holes. And we shouldn’t forget that many digital attacks are not carried out through software vulnerabilities, but through fitting and social engineering methods. Thus, security depends not only on the platform, but first and foremost — on the user.

Source: 9to5mac