This year many bloggers, news sources and developers made consumers aware of Android malware threats. Now, researchers at North Carolina State University have found that security leaks affect some of the most popular Android phones.
The Security Leaks and Affected Phones
Researchers examined eight popular Android phones from manufactures that included HTC, Motorola and Samsung. They found that some pre-loaded applications contributed to security leaks because they did not always adhere to the Android-based permission model. After testing 13 privileged permissions, the North Carolina State University researchers found that 11 permissions were leaked.
The magnitude of the threats is not always easy to define. The risk level depends on what malware hackers use to exploit user data. In this study, http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/jiang/pubs/NDSS12_WOODPECKER.pdf, researchers say that third parties may find backdoor ways to extract consumer data because Android apps have more than one entry point. They found that third parties could exploit consumer data such as the recording of conversations or wiping out user data – all without any knowledge on the user’s part. Again, this occurred from pre-loaded apps that ran on top of the Android OS.
According to the study, the five most affected phones were the:
- EVO 4G
- HTC Legend
- Motorola Droid X
- Samsung Epic 4G
- Wildfire S
Out of the above mentioned smartphones, researchers concluded that the EVO 4G showed signs of having the biggest vulnerabilities. That has the potential to affect many consumers as the EVO is the third most popular smartphone in the United States.
As a side note, phones running stock Android and the Motorola Droid tested clean.
Measures of Protection
Users may protect themselves from risks by only downloading apps from trusted sources. While the Android Market has encountered some malware issues in the past, it still ranks as the largest and most secure app store available to Android users. Setting up a screen password and installing OS updates when they become available also provide ways for all Android users to protect themselves.
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