I don't know how right I am, but it always seemed to me that users Android were not big security hunters. This is evidenced by the undemandingness of updates, and the general lack of fear of downloading software from unknown sources, which is observed by most users, and the tendency to give applications any privileges that they request. Therefore, it is not surprising that infections on Android occur much more often than on iOS. But if teaching people not to dig a hole for themselves, as it turned out, is quite difficult, but it is very, very easy to identify the device with the highest safety indicator from the wide range of smartphones.
Security is a key criterion that for some reason many neglect
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have launched a special website called Android Device Security. They prepared a list of the most popular smartphones on Android, studied the frequency of their updates, the features of the data encryption mechanisms used and other indicators affecting security, and presented all the information in the form of a visual table. Thanks to it, users will be able to independently choose the criteria that interest them and find a smartphone that will meet them.
The safest smartphones
There are no smartphones ideal in terms of security, but Google Pixel is as close to this as possible.
At the moment, the database Android Device Security contains information about smartphones of 7 popular brands: Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei, Sony, Nokia and Google. That is, in fact, the coverage of the portal is quite wide, given that today devices from other manufacturers are not spoiled by demand. The only thing I would add here is OnePlus smartphones. Not only are they very popular despite the price spikes they have experienced, but they also receive regular updates for at least three years from the date of release.
Safe smartphone criteria
In total, the table Android Device Security contains six criteria:
- Operating system version Android
- Latest available security patch
- File encryption support
- Separate processor for encryption
- Seamless upgrade support
- Multiplayer support (why?)
Generally speaking, I have no complaints about the criteria proposed by the researchers, except for one thing. It's not clear to me how multiplayer support has to do with smartphone security. Perhaps, in this way, according to the researchers, it will be possible to prevent cross-collection of data if two or more people use the same device. But, as for me, this is a rather dubious criterion that appeared here, most likely due to the absence of others. For example, I would rate the information about the breaks between updates much higher.
How to choose safe Android
However, here's how to put this data into practice:
- Follow this link to the website Android Device Security;
- At the top of the site, select and go to the Database section;
You can choose a smartphone according to several security criteria
- In the window that opens, select Filters;
- Here we select the manufacturer, smartphone model and auxiliary safety criteria;
- We select the smartphone that the system gave us.
Despite the fact that ideal smartphones do not seem to exist, if you start from the criteria proposed by researchers at Cambridge University, then Google's own devices can be considered the safest. This is quite logical. They have support for all security protocols, receive monthly security updates in the first week of each month, have a built-in processor responsible for data encryption, and support seamless updates, unlike Samsung.
The researchers do not plan to stop the development of the project and in the near future expect to expand the number of available criteria. In addition to the actual updates and those used by the manufacturers of protective mechanisms, they plan to study the software that comes pre-installed on Android – smartphones by default, applications that go to Google Play, and, in fact, expand the base of smartphones covered by these criteria. Therefore, if now you are not satisfied with the Android Device Security features, try to log in later – it will become more useful.