Tell me more ×
IT Security Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for IT security professionals. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite
1

I'm a final year BSc. student of Computer Security & Forensics at the University of Bedfordshire (UK). I'm investigating perceptions of security on Android platforms, and how to educate users of the need to use good security practices and products to protect their devices and data.

I'm looking for links to academic research on Android users' attitudes, perceptions, and behavior regarding security, and for data about Android users' perceptions and experiences (good and bad) of security-related incidents where Android devices have been involved.

share|improve this question
Do IOS users? I hear "IOS doesn't have any exploits or malware" all the time. – ewanm89 Oct 24 '12 at 10:42
3  
I think that the question you've asked (a) won't get the answers you want and (b) isn't a good fit for SE. You've asked a subjective question with a perjorative undertone, but you seem to be looking for links to research. Take a look at the FAQ, particularly the section around "To prevent your question from being flagged and possibly removed, avoid asking subjective questions . . . " and please revise. I don't mean to be harsh about this - I think that there is a very interesting /useful question underneath. – Mark C. Wallace Oct 24 '12 at 10:52
1  
I agree with Mark. As it stands, this question doesn't adhere to StackExchange standards as specified in the FAQ. I've flagged to close. If you edit your question to something with has an objective answer and doesn't solicit lists or opinion, then I'd be happy to let it remain here. – Polynomial Oct 24 '12 at 11:45
@ewanm89 No exploits on iOS? Please excuse me whilst I laugh my ass off! :P – Polynomial Oct 24 '12 at 11:45
@ewanm89 Anything can be exploited even Macs, which people have the same mentality. The reasons Mac gained this mentality was because the shortage of users, iOS has the second biggest share in the 'smart' phone market and is also prone to exploitation. – LukeJenx Oct 24 '12 at 12:06
show 3 more comments

2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote

I don't have any experience of any security related incidents personally but I have found some references to help you out a bit.

  1. Why Eve and Mallory Love Android: An Analysis of Android SSL (In)Security
    http://www2.dcsec.uni-hannover.de/files/android/p50-fahl.pdf
  2. French cops cuff man over €500K Android Trojan scam http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/19/french_android_trojan_suspect_arrested/

  3. Lookout Security <-- Perhaps the leaders in mobile security

    https://www.lookout.com

  4. Nice IEEE published paper <-- might need to be on a Uni network to gain access http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=4768655&tag=1
share|improve this answer
I don't think this answers the question. I suggest editing your answer to focus on user attitudes. "Why Eve and Mallory Love Android...": this is the most relevant, but it only looks at whether users can recognize whether users of the Android browser can recognize whether they are on a HTTPS page. "French cops..": this has nothing to do with user attitudes, perception, or behavior. "Lookout": a link to a company's home page is not helpful (and is frankly a bit spammy). "IEEE published paper": this paper has nothing to do with user attitudes, perception, or behavior. – D.W. Oct 25 '12 at 1:37
But I'm assuming a lot of the research he is going to undertake would be around security hence the links are to security providers / security news. The second link shows that there are vulnerabilities and users are getting effected by those. The lookout security link has a nice in depth blog that brings up more security issues etc. and the IEEE paper is about understanding security issues and hence will form an important role in further research. If these have been shown it forms an outline that there are security issues and they have been acknowledged but that many users aren't aware of these – LukeJenx Oct 25 '12 at 12:04
up vote 3 down vote

For information about attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of Android users, I recommend the following research papers:

As you can see, there has recently been a lot of interest in this topic, and there is a growing research literature on this subject. I'm sure we'll continue to see more research in this area in the near future.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.