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Google chairman tells CIOs: Android security trumps iPhone

A my-security-is-better-than-yours attitude isn't uncommon in the industry, but a gathering of international CIOs was apparently unconvinced by a Google exec's recent claims about Android security.

On Monday, Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, may have gone a step too far in defending the Android platform at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2013, which began on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.

According to ZDNet, which covered the conference, Schmidt told a Gartner analyst during a Q&A session that the Android platform was “more secure than the iPhone.”

Scoring some laughter from the crowd, Schmidt addressed security execs' perceptions about the Android platform – which repeatedly finds itself in headlines for major vulnerabilities or data-sucking apps that continue to make their way into the official Android marketplace, Google Play.

Back in March, a report on mobile application security brought forth a similar, and equally debatable, point.

The bi-annual “App Reputation Report,” published by mobile application firm Appthority, analyzed the top 50 free apps on iOS and Android platforms, examining the differences in behavior that affects user privacy.

In nearly all of the categories, iOS apps proved to access the most information, putting Android device security a notch above the iPhone in the report. But research continues to crop up challenging this argument.

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