“The search and mobile giant on Monday released its monthly round of Android security fixes, with one persistent flaw at the top of the list: a “critical” security vulnerability in mediaserver, a part of Android that finds and indexes media files stored on the device,” Zack Whittaker reports for ZDNet. “Almost every month since Google began pushing out monthly security patches, researchers have found a new problem in the bug-ridden Android component.”
“According to the bulletin, the two flaws ‘could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, web browsing, and MMS when processing media files,'” Whittaker reports. “In other words, an attacker can run malware on a device by exploiting the mediaserver, because the service has access to privileged parts of the device which other apps don’t have.”
Whittaker reports, “All Nexus devices are vulnerable to the two flaws, and other devices that are running Android KitKat (4.4.4) and later, said the bulletin.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Now to be fair, this is only because Android is an inferior product peddled to cheapskate tech illiterates who do not value their privacy and/or who are unable to recognize a half-assed knockoff from the revolutionary original.
Android is a BlackBerry clone that was hastily rejiggered at the last minute to mimic iPhone in a panic by Google. Obviously, mistakes were made and corners were cut.
So, the Android rush-job is a privacy and security nightmare. It’s a fragmented morass. It’s too many cooks in the kitchen. It’s crap-by-committee lowest common denominator junk.
And anyone who rewards blatant thieves by settling for Android garbage deserves their fate.
SEE ALSO:
85% of mobile device failures occur on Android, with Samsung leading the way – February 23, 2016
More than 90% of Android devices are running out-dated, insecure operating system versions – January 27, 2016
Dangerous new zero-day flaw affects more than two-thirds of all Android devices – January 20, 2016
Android malware steals one-time passcodes, a crucial defense for online banking – January 14, 2016
New Android malware is so bad, you’d better off buying a new phone – November 6, 2015
Apple issues iPhone manifesto; blasts Android’s lack of updates, lack of privacy, rampant malware – August 10, 2015
New Android malware strains to top 2 million by end of 2015 – July 1, 2015
Symantec: 1 in 5 Android apps is malware – April 25, 2015
Kaspersky Lab Director: Over 98% of mobile malware targets Android because it’s much, much easier to exploit than iOS – January 15, 2015
Security experts: Malware spreading to millions on Android phones – November 21, 2014
There’s practically no iOS malware, thanks to Apple’s smart control over app distribution – June 13, 2014
F-Secure: Android accounted for 99% of new mobile malware in Q1 2014 – April 30, 2014
Google’s Sundar Pichai: Android not designed to be safe; if I wrote malware, I’d target Android, too – February 27, 2014
Cisco: Android the target of 99 percent of world’s mobile malware – January 17, 2014
U.S. DHS, FBI warn of malware threats to Android mobile devices – August 27, 2013
Android app malware rates skyrocket 40 percent in last quarter – August 7, 2013
First malware found in wild that exploits Android app signing flaw – July 25, 2013
Mobile Threats Report: Android accounts for 92% of all mobile malware – June 26, 2013
Latest self-replicating Android Trojan looks and acts just like Windows malware – June 7, 2013
99.9% of new mobile malware targets Android phones – May 30, 2013
Mobile malware exploding, but only for Android – May 14, 2013
Mobile malware: Android is a bad apple – April 15, 2013
F-Secure: Android accounted for 96% of all mobile malware in Q4 2012 – March 7, 2013
New malware attacks Android phones, Windows PCs to eavesdrop, steal data; iPhone, Mac users unaffected – February 4, 2013
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “TJ” for the heads up.]
I think Apple is right behind them with iOS these days
Baloney. iOS is still darn solid and the best there ever has been to date. MDN is right on.
IOS Is far from solid and has got worse in recent years it is more buggy and less secure.
Not really … the iphone is definitely less buggy now thatn even 1-2 years ago, let alone, 5 years ago.
What bugs are you referencing?
Also, note, when a major iOS revision is released, yes it has bugs, but those are quickly addressed (as a measure of relevance) and the platform becomes much more stable.
Everyone knows the diff between a Yugos & Teslas.
I don’t know, maybe the solution is to replace unfixable Android with fixable iOS. Alphabet could soon buy it in a fire sale — Apple is on its last legs, after all: sales are tanking, markets are saturated, innovation has dwindled, privacy (personal security) is losing out, iTunes sucks, China is about to pull the plug, investors are troubled, Apple fans are disgruntled and are becoming indistinguishable from trolls. I could go on and on and on.
Apple Inc. may soon fail; and its assets will be for sale. iOS has robust core technologies, and the idiot GUI can be cleaned up by anyone not working for Jony Ive. The Android team is already plenty familiar with iOS and could hit the ground running.
Alphabet/Google acquiring this alternative mobile OS would solve a world of problems…including the Government’s.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Aaaahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Whew. Oh man. Aha ha. Haha haha
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaah.
)
Epitome of a Troll. Slow Life Day?….
I was enjoying that satire until the line: “iTunes sucks”.
Yeah, iTunes does suck! So, uh, um…
It’s mutant sibling, the App Store app, also sucks, while I’m on a rant fest.
And Apple doesn’t care.
There. I’m grounded again.
And yeah, it’s hilarious to watch GOOG held aloft by hot air while AAPL sinks slowly to Earth built with jet engines. Bizarro era. I’m betting the end of 2016 looks significantly different. A table turning is in order.
The Mac App Store app is vexing. It isn’t consistent or reliable with updating Apple’s own apps, although part of that might be due to the endless El Capitan betas — which reminds me of doing clean installs of Windows and applying patch after patch. Ah, the nostalgia of simpler times!
What’s really annoyed me lately is having to go through the old website rigmarole to update BBedit. That sterling outfit had pulled out of the App store because of some kind of unreasonable restrictions. I never thought I’d resent Apple’s Walled Garden, but I’ve begun to feel that way, now they’ve allowed it to go to seed, and spoilt the experience like one of those beach signs forbidding everything.
The most recent Apple Mac App Store restrictions, which pertain to OS X 10.10 and 10.11, are related to sandboxing. Apparently, Apple is allowing its apps to break out of the sandbox but no one else’s. Here is a blog posting that quotes several prime figures in the Mac community about the situation, dated from October 2014:
http://mjtsai.com/blog/2014/10/12/bbedit-leaving-mac-app-store/
I, for one, prefer buying my apps directly from the developers, as long as I trust them. The apps are often more capable than the versions at the Mac App Store. For me, the turning point was when Apple would not allow ClamXav to include live malware scanning in the App Store version. Meanwhile, that lack of that specific feature was the chief bitching point at the App Store. (o_0) So of course, I got ClamXav directly from Mark Allan, the developer.
Man, just goes to show you how goofy people are: I read the comment by “Herself” as sarcasm, but apparently we’re getting so used to idiots that 50-some people believed that was not sarcasm.
I guess you haven’t heard, but Apple has been on its last legs for around 25 years — one huge smoldering failure. For some 38 years now its products have continued to be cheap imitations of products from other brands — inferior junk cobbled together from off-the-shelf components crammed into fancy enclosures. (Well, that’s what I heard.)
Other stuff I know: Text-to-speech was invented by Compac in 1996 and first unveiled in one of their TV commercials that year. The idea that it was demonstrated on the Mac during its January 1984 unveiling (“I’d like to introduce Steve Jobs, who has been like a father to me.”) or that it had been available on the Mac as a commercial product since 1986 (Talking Moose) is just a myth perpetuated by commies and wild-eyed liberals.
If you take this article and substitute Windows XP for Android and Microsoft for Google/Alphabet, the article could have been written 10-12 years ago.
The machines may be smaller, but the operating systems copied from Apple are still bug-ridden crap.
If you were talking about Window 95, I’d agree, but not Windows XP. People did not start to move beyond XP in large numbers until Windows 7 arrived. Ask any business that has been around for twenty years or so – 90% were using XP until just a couple of years ago.
In other words, Android is like Windows. Why people Choose this crap is beyond me.
Like it or not, Android adherents, its reputation continues to, ahem, DECLINE. Well deserved too. 😛