Author: Ravinder Rathor, Kirti Nayer, Arjun Shah
Abstract: With the rapid growth of smartphones, mobile operating systems have become a critical target for security attacks. Among them, Android and iOS dominate the global market, serving billions of users across different domains. Android, being an open-source platform, offers flexibility and customization but also introduces several security vulnerabilities. iOS, on the other hand, follows a tightly controlled ecosystem with strict security policies. This paper presents a comprehensive review of Android security vulnerabilities and provides a comparative analysis with iOS security mechanisms. Key areas such as application sandboxing, permission models, malware threats, system updates, data protection, and hardware-backed security are examined. The study highlights how architectural differences and ecosystem policies influence the security posture of both platforms. The findings indicate that while Android faces higher exposure to malware and fragmentation-related risks, recent improvements in Android security have significantly narrowed the gap with iOS. This paper aims to assist researchers, developers, and security professionals in understanding mobile OS security challenges and selecting appropriate mitigation strategies.
Keywords: Android Security, Mobile OS Vulnerabilities, iOS Security, Malware Analysis, Permission Model, Comparative Study
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