The massive adoption of mobile devices by
individuals as well as by organizations has brought forth many
security concerns. Their significant abilities have resulted in
their permeating use while correspondingly increasing their
attractiveness as targets for cybercriminals. Consequently,
mobile device vendors have increasingly focused on security in
their design efforts. However, present security features might
still be insufficient to protect users’ assets. In this paper,
factors that influence security within the two leading mobile
platforms, Android and iOS, are presented and examined to
promote discussion while studying them under one umbrella.
We consider various factors that influence security on both
platforms, such as application provenance, application
permissions, application isolation, and encryption mechanisms.