Ask HN: Why is Android plagued with malware when it's based off Linux?
As I understand Linux has one of the most secure kernels, so what makes android so vulnerable?
Android however has a very high penetration rate and its user are not all tech savy. A lot of them or going to google thing like "game android free" and download .apk willy nilly, giving them permissions without thinking.
But to answer your question, I think you see a lot of Android malware for two reasons:
1. Android devices aren't usually patched with the latest security fixes.
2. Most malware exploits the application frameworks that sit on top of the Linux kernel. These frameworks aren't nearly as secure. And if an application framework has a kernel-mode component where code can be executed? There goes most kernel security protections.
Reason why Linux desktops are considered secure is because regular users do not use it therefore it reduces amount of malware being written for it.
same thing could happen to Mac OS X if it becomes more widely used (happened already).