Ever since the dreaded Android Stagefright bug was discovered by Joshua J. Drake of Zimperium zLabs’, the time bomb was literally ticking. Dismissing some parts of the news as rumours, Google has come out with a new update to fix the bug. Google’s lead Android security engineer, Adrian Ludwig, announced at the BlackHat conference, that the most popular Android phones such as Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge, HTC One M7, One M8, and One M9, LG G2, G3, and G4, Sony Xperia Z2, Xperia Z3, Xperia Z4, and Xperia Z3 Compact and all its Android One devices will be receiving the update in August.
He further added that the Nexus devices, henceforth, will get security updates every month, starting Wednesday.
More over, Google will be updating its default Android messenger app, allowing users conscious control over the video that they wish to see. This, as Google believes could prevent viruses like Stagefright from spreading quickly.
Stagefright spreads from the media libraries Android uses to read file formats such as PDFs. As Drake pointed out, hackers can tap into this bug and install malware, without the knowledge of the user.
What separates Stagefright from other viruses is the fact that to start an attack all the hacker has to do is send a picture or a video by a text message.
During the conference, Ludwig, dismissing some of the claims made by Drake, stated that 90% of Android devices are equipped with ASLR technology, which stands for Address Space Layout Randomization, and in the words of Ludwig himself, this technology alone would make it difficult for Stagefright to do its intended damage.
Dong Jin Koh, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Research and Development Office, IT and Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics stated that,
With the recent security issues, we have been rethinking the approach to getting security updates to our devices in a more timely manner. Since software is constantly exploited in new ways, developing a fast response process to deliver security patches to our devices is critical to keep them protected.
We believe that this new process will vastly improve the security of our devices and will aim to provide the best mobile experience possible for our users.
Lets hope that with this new update, the fear of Stagefright has been done and dusted.
