Monday, May 16, 2022
  • Shop
  • My Account
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • Login
NewsDigitize
  • Home
  • News
    • Google
    • Apple
    • Facebook
    • Microsoft
      • Windows
    • WhatsApp
    • Yahoo
    • Flipkart
    • Intel
    • Nvidia
    • Alibaba
    • NASA
    • IBM
    • BlackBerry
    • Linux
    • Airtel
    • Amazon
  • Social
    • Social Media
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
  • Topic
    • Technology
    • Technology company
    • Android
    • Android App
    • App
    • Smart Phones
    • Router
    • WiFi
    • Electronics
    • Space
    • Virtualization
    • Gadget
    • SEO
    • Hacking
    • Robot
    • Transportation
    • Drones
  • Internet
  • Telecom
No Result
View All Result
Plugin Install : Cart Icon need WooCommerce plugin to be installed.
NewsDigitize
  • Home
  • News
    • Google
    • Apple
    • Facebook
    • Microsoft
      • Windows
    • WhatsApp
    • Yahoo
    • Flipkart
    • Intel
    • Nvidia
    • Alibaba
    • NASA
    • IBM
    • BlackBerry
    • Linux
    • Airtel
    • Amazon
  • Social
    • Social Media
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
  • Topic
    • Technology
    • Technology company
    • Android
    • Android App
    • App
    • Smart Phones
    • Router
    • WiFi
    • Electronics
    • Space
    • Virtualization
    • Gadget
    • SEO
    • Hacking
    • Robot
    • Transportation
    • Drones
  • Internet
  • Telecom
No Result
View All Result
Plugin Install : Cart Icon need WooCommerce plugin to be installed.
NewsDigitize
No Result
View All Result

Google: Android is just as secure as the other guys

Chief Editor by Chief Editor
March 16, 2018
in Google
0 0
0
Home Google

After years of big security gaps, Google says the phones it powers are now as hard to hack as iPhones. It wants to make sure you know that.

In the list of big security flaws that could let hackers compromise phones, there’s one name that comes up a lot: Android.

In 2015, we learned that Google’s operating system for phones was vulnerable to the StageFright bug, which hackers could exploit just by sending a text message. In 2016, security researchers revealed that millions of Android phones were infected with malicious software called HummingBad, which hackers used to generate bogus ad revenue. In 2017, documents revealed by Wikileaks showed that the CIA had developed malicious software for Android phones.

According to David Kleidermacher, Google’s head of security for Android, Google Play and the Chrome operating system since May, the Android team is hard at work to make the worries surrounding these bugs a thing of the past.

In fact, Kleidermacher said, without naming any names, Android is now as safe as the competition.

That’s a big claim, considering that Android’s main competitor is Apple’s iPhone. This bold idea permeates the annual Android Security Report that Google released Thursday. “Android security made a significant leap forward in 2017 and many of our protections now lead the industry,” the report says on page one.

Echoing the report, Kleidermacher told CNET that Android flaws have become harder for researchers to find and that the software now protects users from malicious software so well the problems that used to leave users exposed to bad actors aren’t such a big problem anymore.

Android safeguards

For years, Google has fought the impression that Android phones are hard to protect from hackers. That’s because Android flaws are hard to fix and bad software is easy to download onto Android phones.

When someone finds a major Android flaw, the company has to send updated software to the companies that sell Android phones, and those companies have to deliver the updates. It can take a really long time, or not happen at all. On top of that, Android users can easily “self-own” — that is, they can download malicious software without meaning to — because they aren’t restricted to choosing apps from Google’s Play Store.

As Android security has matured, it has become more difficult and expensive for attackers to find high severity exploits.

Google’s Android Security 2017 Year in Review

Apple doesn’t have either of those issues. It can deliver security updates directly to iPhones, and it prevents users from getting apps from outside of its App Store.

But Android isn’t moving toward Apple’s model. Instead, Kleidermacher said, it’s possible to address these issues by “retrofitting” security into Android phones. In other words, even if Android wasn’t originally designed with security as a top priority, it can be built in now.

Better than it was

How does Google know Android is getting safer? Follow the money. The company says it’s paying freelance bug hunters more money per flaw, which means it’s harder to find the flaws to begin with.

“As Android security has matured, it has become more difficult and expensive for attackers to find high severity exploits,” the report says.

In other words, the low-hanging fruit is gone. That was reflected in the results of a major annual phone hacking event, Mobile Pwn2Own: In 2017, good-guy hackers didn’t win rewards for any core Android flaws.

Kleidermacher chalks this up to the power of open-source code, a thought that’s echoed in the report.

“As a global, open-source project, Android has a community of defenders collaboratively locating the deeper vulnerabilities and developing mitigations,” the report says. “This community may be orders of magnitude larger and more effective than a closed-source project of a similar scale.”

Apple’s iOS is just such a closed-source project.

Security updates

To address the difficulties of patching major bugs like StageFright, Kleidermacher said, Android’s powers that be are requiring phone makers to agree to regular update schedules. Google has already come a long way in getting phone makers to provide regular updates, he said, and it’s going to keep improving.

The report doesn’t provide an exact number of how many Android devices are getting regular security updates, but it does give an idea. “The majority of the deployed devices for over 200 different Android models from over 30 device manufacturers are running a security update from the last 90 days,” the report says. In its 2016 Android security report, Google said that about half of Android devices received a security update by the end of the year.

It will get better, Kleidermacher said. “I think in 2018 we’re going to see quite a large increase in the overall percentage of devices getting these regular security updates.”

Keeping out those bad apps

Google is also pushing to get malicious apps off Android phones, but it’s not taking away your right to download apps from outside the Google Play store. Instead, it’s building in tools that can identify and turn off bad apps.

With its Google Play Protect service, Android can scan devices for apps it knows are bad and warn users of the risks. In 2017, Android stepped in 1.6 billion times and stopped users from downloading “potentially harmful apps,” as Google calls them. It also removed nearly 39 million bad apps from users’ phones.

These include apps that mirror the way HummingBad worked, generating clicks for advertisers without the user even knowing about it. They also include “hostile downloaders,” which seem like innocuous apps but then start downloading other apps that behave badly.

Protecting users from harmful apps is the most important thing Google can do to secure Android, Kleidermacher said. That’s because bad apps are more directly harmful to users than a bug like StageFright, which he said has never been used to attack a large number of Android users.

That’s good news, because while Google can’t protect every user from StageFright, it can use Google Play Protect to save you from bad apps even when you don’t get security updates on your Android phone.

Source: cnet.com

ShareTweetShare
Chief Editor

Chief Editor

Next Post
Adobe tops estimates on higher Creative Cloud subscriptions

Adobe tops estimates on higher Creative Cloud subscriptions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Vodafone India says IoT becoming fastest growing segment for enterprise biz; mulling narrowband IoT network

Vodafone India says IoT becoming fastest growing segment for enterprise biz; mulling narrowband IoT network

April 16, 2018
Android Oreo: 18 advanced tips and tricks

Android Oreo: 18 advanced tips and tricks

March 19, 2018
OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G India Launch Date Set for February 17, Design Tipped in Teaser Video

OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G India Launch Date Set for February 17, Design Tipped in Teaser Video

February 24, 2022
Here’s how you can de-link your Facebook profile from Instagram

Here’s how you can de-link your Facebook profile from Instagram

February 25, 2022
Apple’s plan to put health records on your phone has huge implications for medicine

Apple’s plan to put health records on your phone has huge implications for medicine

6

The totaly amazing street art collection of 2016

5

Everything you ever need to know about flowers

4

Why you need an amazing photography collection

3
Here’s how you can de-link your Facebook profile from Instagram

Here’s how you can de-link your Facebook profile from Instagram

February 25, 2022
WhatsApp may soon make it easier to organise groups with new ‘Community Home’ feature

WhatsApp may soon make it easier to organise groups with new ‘Community Home’ feature

February 25, 2022
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G tipped to soon launch in India with Snapdragon 695 chip, 64MP triple cameras

OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G tipped to soon launch in India with Snapdragon 695 chip, 64MP triple cameras

February 25, 2022
Amazon, Flipkart, Uber, Others Could Be Persuaded to Go Electric Faster, Maharashtra Hopes

Amazon, Flipkart, Uber, Others Could Be Persuaded to Go Electric Faster, Maharashtra Hopes

February 24, 2022
NewsDigitize

We bring you the best Premium WordPress Themes that perfect for news, magazine, personal blog, etc.

Read more

Technological Advances

Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type

Footer Menu

  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • SOCIAL
  • TOPIC
  • INTERNET
  • TELECOM

Recent News

Here’s how you can de-link your Facebook profile from Instagram

Here’s how you can de-link your Facebook profile from Instagram

February 25, 2022
WhatsApp may soon make it easier to organise groups with new ‘Community Home’ feature

WhatsApp may soon make it easier to organise groups with new ‘Community Home’ feature

February 25, 2022

© 2022 All Rights Reserved newsdigitize.co.in.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Google
    • Apple
    • Facebook
    • Microsoft
      • Windows
    • WhatsApp
    • Yahoo
    • Flipkart
    • Intel
    • Nvidia
    • Alibaba
    • NASA
    • IBM
    • BlackBerry
    • Linux
    • Airtel
    • Amazon
  • Social
    • Social Media
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
  • Topic
    • Technology
    • Technology company
    • Android
    • Android App
    • App
    • Smart Phones
    • Router
    • WiFi
    • Electronics
    • Space
    • Virtualization
    • Gadget
    • SEO
    • Hacking
    • Robot
    • Transportation
    • Drones
  • Internet
  • Telecom

© 2022 All Rights Reserved newsdigitize.co.in.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In