Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
AN ANDROID FLAW which allows malware to insert malicious code into other apps and gain control of a device’s settings has been discovered.
The flaw, which was discovered by security company Bluebox Labs, is called ‘Fake ID’ could puts millions of users who are using older versions of Android at risk.
In a blog post detailing the flaw, it shows that every Android application has its own unique identity. The vulnerability is found in what’s called a ‘certificate chain,’ which allows devices to verify the identities of apps first for use before they’re opened or grant permission to access certain data.
The flaw undermines this process since it makes “no attempt to verify the authenticity of a certificate chain; in other words, an identity can claim to be issued by another identity, and the Android cryptographic code will not verify the claim.”
By opening an app that exploits this, it could create a knock-on effect which would see other apps and services being affected.
A patch for the flaw, which was labelled ‘Google bug 13678484′, was issued by Google as part of its latest update to KitKat (4.4) in April. However, that version only accounts for 17.9% of all Android versions, the rest (82.1%) are running older versions of Android on their devices.
If you’re worried about whether you have the latest version of Android installed, simply go into settings, scroll down to ‘about device’ and select ‘check update’.
If you’re using an older version, you will be notified and prompted to install the update although some devices don’t have the latest update yet due to their manufacturer not releasing one yet so double check just in case.
Bluebox Labs also released an Android app of their own which checks whether your device has been patched.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Bring back the pirates. Greatest era of radio in Ireland. Ah the memories :)
@Declan Moran: totally agree radio Nova was brilliant…signal for Christmas fm is very bad in some parts of the country this year for some reason
@Dave Ryan: Agree, last year on 87.7 in North Co.Cork, it was blowing the head off me, this year its weak and hissy at times
@Dave Ryan: ah it was great Dave. Nova, Q102 all the local ones in a lot of county towns. I always wanted to work in radio. The closest I came was playing music over the PA system in secondary school at lunchtime every day with two friends :). But I did spend most Saturdays in the studio of our local station Kiss FM in Tullamore. I was supposed to be gathering sports results but was having a great laugh with the guys on air. Such great times and they had so much freedom to broadcast properly. Today it’s minimum requirements for this and that and repetitive playlists. Haven’t listened to radio in Ireland for such a long time. It’s made up of a lot of shouty presenters with big egos. For me these days it’s spotify, my own collection or a station in Madrid that plays a great mix of music.
Well done to them
If I hear Bruce Springsteen once more I’m switching back to regular stations. They must be playing him twice an hour and it’s a terrible Christmas song.
@Dick Nagle: Have to agree with you on that dick. His shouting would frighten me never mind the kids.
have your say