Towards Enhancing Security in Android Operating Systems – Android Permissions & User Unawareness

One of the security aspects of mobile operating systems is their ability to isolate applications. However, the Android user-based permission model breaks this security feature. To address this issue, surveys were utilised to collect data to learn about users' knowledge with regards to Android permissions. Results presented in this study from a total of 380 respondents have shown that users lack the quintessential knowledge about Android application permissions which inevitably leads to uninformed decision making when installing applications on Android mobile devices. The recommendation stemming from this study is that a conceptual model be developed in order to solve this problem. It is envisaged that this approach will benefit the community of Android users by protecting them from harmful and malicious applications and their developers. Moreover, the proposed model will be running in the background providing security without disturbing the user from performing their day-to-day activities on their mobile device.