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Comment by grishka | Hacker News Reader

Computers and Android devices don't employ predatory code signing and can run anything without the manufacturer having a say, yet somehow the hell didn't break loose. Also, if you don't let people make mistakes or see someone else make them, they won't learn. In effect, one might say that this scheme makes people dumber.

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What do you mean? Hell does break lose. The malware situation on PCs might be better than it was 15 years ago, but it’s still ubiquitous. Removing malware from PCs is still an entire industry and career path.

At this point I am convinced HN commenters have a blind spot when it comes to how easily non-technical users get infected with malware. The latest statistics[1] show iOS has significantly fewer malware infections compared to Android and Windows devices:

iOS: 1.72% Android: 26.64% Windows: 38.92% IoT: 32.72%

[1] https://www.nokia.com/networks/portfolio/cyber-security/thre...

Android and Windows devices don’t necessarily have the same OS-level security provisions, so this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. It’s probably true that iOS as an operating system has had stronger security from the start, but that’s not related to the app distribution channel.

Those are not malware infection rates, they're OS "marketshare" of all infected devices.

I'll modify my wording but that doesn't change the overall point.

If you’re working in a company, I suggest you go and tell them that it’s fine and malware is not a problem and that the users need to learn from their mistakes. They should be quite relieved to learn that.

Same for the companies who lose regularly millions of dollars to ransomware.

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