Oliver Haslam on March 2, 2018, 8:52 am

Apple Takes Top Spot In Smartphone Security Update Availability, Samsung Far Below In Ranking

In what will be absolutely no surprise to most smartphone market watchers, Apple has come out top in new analysis that looked into smartphone security across brands, with only two Android phone makers doing reasonably well.

SecurityLab tweeted a table in which we can see the results of its work, with multiple phone makers examined across no fewer than four different factors.

As can be seen from the table offered by the tweet, SecurityLab looked into how long it takes phone makers to patch security issues once they have been discovered as well as the maximum delay in making the update available to all users. Manufacturers were also graded on whether or not updates were independent of the carriers that their phones sit on, with the time a device is supported for security updates also a key factor in the analysis carried out.

Somewhat predictably, Apple came out top thanks to its ability to rank green across the board. This was thanks to the 5 years of support for all iPhones bar the iPhone 5c, which was supported for “only” 4 years, as well as the fact that it is able to publish security fixes within days. Those updates are also instantly available to all users worldwide, something other firms are generally not able to offer.

When it comes to the competition, only Google and Essential were able to come out of the process with any credibility, although Microsoft’s Windows Phone was also surprisingly well marked although this is all rather moot for the platform given its sales performance.

As for Samsung? The less said the better, unfortunately, with the market leader way down the rankings with the likes of Huawei, Asus, and LG.

(Source: SecurityLab [Twitter])