“Android security woes got worse on Thursday, with two separate reports of code defects that put millions of end users at risk,” Dan Goodin reports for Ars Technica. “The first involves the update Google released last week fixing a flaw that allowed attackers to execute malicious code on an estimated 950 million phones with nothing more than a maliciously crafted text message.”
“Seven days later, security researchers are reporting that the patch, which has been in Google’s possession since April, is so flawed that attackers can exploit the vulnerability anyway,” Goodin reports. “‘The patch is 4 lines of code and was (presumably) reviewed by Google engineers prior to shipping,’ Jordan Gruskovnjak and Aaron Portnoy, who are researchers with security firm Exodus Intelligence, wrote in a blog post published Thursday. ‘The public at large believes the current patch protects them when it in fact does not.'”
“Separately, researchers from security firm MWR Labs disclosed a flaw that allows malicious apps to break out of the Android security sandbox,” Goodin reports. “The rash of vulnerabilities being reported in Android and the difficulty in getting them installed on end-user devices is taking its toll on the mobile OS.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
Those who’ve settled for pretend iPhones are coming to a sad realization:
If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.
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