Android hack worriers rejoice, the fixes are coming to save the day. Google, Samsung and LG and now going to start rolling out monthly security updates.
After Android's biggest bug yet was revealed at the Black Hat security conference recently, it was clear users were exposed. The problem was that even when Google rolled out an update it would take even longer for third-party manufacturers to write the code into their operating systems.
Now the three big names in Android have announced that they will not only fix this bug but will start rolling out monthly security updates. Seems silly to have waited this long, right?
The problem is in manufacturer variation. While BlackBerry and Apple make both the hardware and software of their phones, and can roll out updates easily, Android is fragmented.
The fix for the Stagefright bug is being hailed as the "biggest update ever" to Android.
The problem comes from Stagefright. This part of Android is responsible for media players. Since these are time-sensitive processes the code used is native C++ which is more prone to memory corruption than memory-safe languages like Java.
Any Android device equipped with Froyo 2.2 or newer are vulnerable, meaning most.
Once this is fixed and monthly updates start rolling out Android should be a safer operating system, technically.