Major Security Vulnerability Affecting All Android Devices Running Android 10 & 11 Discovered; Users Need to Take Action and Patch
Kryptowire Inc., a mobile security and privacy solutions company, publicly announced the discovery of a major security vulnerability affecting all Android devices and vendors running Android versions 10 & 11. First discovered in July 2021, Google considered the vulnerability to be of “high” severity and offered a patch within three months. However, on average, only a minority of users (17%) installed an update on the day of its release and the update rate significantly drops over the period of 102 days, with only 53.2% of users, on average, updating within a week¹. With more than 50% of Android tablet and mobile users currently running Android 10 & 11², Kryptowire encourages Android users to routinely update their devices to prevent exploitation.
Latest Aithority Insights: AiThority.com to Attend The Character of AI – A Technology Ethics Conference (Virtual)
“To that end, we often collaborate with industry manufacturers to run a proverbial joint offense. Last year, we were grateful for the opportunity to work with Google and Android to help them neutralize a major vulnerability before it became a threat.”
This particular vulnerability, discovered by Kryptowire, allowed unauthorized apps to make device-level changes, which could be used to disable apps providing security defenses, hold the device for ransom, cause the device to persistently crash at boot (requiring the user to wipe the device to recover it, resulting in potential data loss), bypass third-party lock-screen apps, disable competitor apps, among other uses.
AI and ML News: AI: Continuing the Chase for Brain-Level Efficiency
The vulnerability was discovered during a routine scan of a pre-production device with Kryptowire’s Mobile Application Security Testing (MAST) solution, which enables companies to proactively detect security weaknesses and vulnerabilities in mobile apps. Kryptowire discovered the vulnerability in a pre-installed app called System UI, where users were exposed to unauthorized privilege escalation and local Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. The System UI application is present in core Android code, which affects all Android vendors. A patch, released in October 2021, remediates this vulnerability. According to StatCounter, more than 50% of Android tablet and mobile users are currently running Android 10 & 11.
Best Practices to Keep your Mobile Device Safe
- Automatic Updates – Turn on automatic updates whenever possible; if a trusted program prompts you to opt into automatic updates, say yes.
- Backup Data – Have a secure archive of your important information, whether that’s classified documents for your business or treasured photos of your family. Backing up your data allows you to restore your device quickly and seamlessly in the event of data loss.
- Secure Apps Regularly – Only download apps from the official Google Play Store or Apple App Store, delete apps you no longer need and scan all apps for potential vulnerabilities and privacy issues.
- Mobile Security Software – Add an extra layer of protection against ransomware, dangerous websites, unsafe Wi-Fi networks, unwanted access to your device, and more.
- Be in the Know – Stay on top of the latest threats to help protect yourself from known vulnerabilities.
AI ML in Marketing: AI and Big Data Analysis Used to Find Brands’ Emotional Connection
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
Comments are closed.