Android Phones Vulnerable To Hackers, Expert Claims

A mobile security expert says he has found new ways for hackers to attack phones running Google Inc's Android operating system.

Read the full story at Reuters...

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[O K Ali]

02:07 AM on 08/16/2011

Now hear this: Somewhere, sometime, somehow, something bad is going to happen. Get ready.

[mhtowe64]

09:39 AM on 08/15/2011

so are iphones....

[MIKEinNYC]

08:19 PM on 08/14/2011

Everything can be hacked by a sufficiently talented miscreant.

[Fredday]

03:24 PM on 08/14/2011

Lookout Mobile Security. The End.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lookout&feature=search_result

[madinpahuff]

03:19 PM on 08/14/2011

The most profound item in this story is Google just flatly rejecting the notion that they can be compromised. That is hilarious! †

[Yota Daga]

01:24 PM on 08/14/2011

Giant Mouse invades city!
What kind of reporting is this?

[mwmwmw]

01:06 AM on 08/14/2011

Google really needs to monitor apps before they are released on the market. If not, they will be blamed for their own weaknesses. If Androids start getting hacked on a regular basis, how many users will jump ship??? Me for sure!

[Channa]

06:50 PM on 08/13/2011

Bring the fanboy scorn, but one of IOS's alleged weaknesses is a strength. You can only multitask with native apps. This makes it impossible for cross infection from bad software. But this is mainly a moot point since the first line of defense for Apple's mobile products is the rigorous vetting by the app store.

Android market is proud of their openness but unfortunately this also makes them open to hackers.

[mairs]

12:37 AM on 08/15/2011

Yeah but we can buy apps in rupees, yuans, and bahts.

;)

[PhillyKing]

09:04 AM on 08/15/2011

all platforms are vulnerable... all of them... let me state that 1 more time.. all the platforms are vulnerable to hacks....

now that that's done... let me state, as an android user myself, i love the fact that i can get apps from the market, from Amazon and yes from any other site that a dev decides to publish on... i love choice... i also love not having to pay for everything... sure most free apps have ads in them, but they're free.. i know a lot of ios users tend to like throwing away their money, but i dont... does this open my surface to more vulnerable spots to exploit? maybe... but believe it or not, if a hacker targets you, dont believe for an instant that ur platform protects you as opposed to another.

[Channa]

09:44 AM on 08/15/2011

I will agree that all platforms are vulnerable. The issue is the degree. Apple products are more secure. Period.

I don't mind that you prefer Android. Choice is great and people have different priorities. But Android is more vulnerable.

[JCurley]

06:15 PM on 08/13/2011

Clever advertising campaign by Apple.

[Krek]

04:51 PM on 08/13/2011

""The identified bugs are not present in Android," he said, declining to elaborate."

I think he should elaborate so people will be able to get an idea of what he is talking about.

[jsarets]

07:12 PM on 08/13/2011

He's probably saying that the bugs are in third-party software, not in the Android. Google could make it easier to write secure software for Android, but there's always going to be poorly-written software.

That's just the nature of programmable computers, and the immature state of the software industry as a professional engineering discipline is frightening given the centrality of software systems in our civilization.

I recently developed software for architectural engineers, and I was struck by the amount of procedures and standards which they are trained and required by law to follow so that they can design buildings that are safe and assume legal responsibility for that level of safety. In software engineering, we're still allowed to just use our best judgment, and most developers really don't have the rigorous training and experience to justify being given that much rope to play with. 

Most software is pretty shockingly terrible, particularly at the application level. It gets better as you go down through the stack into the operating system components which receive a lot more scrutiny, especially in open source projects like the Linux kernel.

I came of age as a developer hacking the Linux kernel in college, and then when I went out into the real world, I expected the proprietary software at the big corporation I was working for to be more professional and polished, but it was definitely the opposite. Their code was awful, and the Linux kernel is absolutely immaculate by comparison. It's like the saying "out of sight, out of mind". These software vendors don't care too much about code quality, because nobody is looking at their code except their own employees. It's astonishing that any of it works at all.

[notright guy]

04:51 PM on 08/13/2011

Hey its open yahoo! uh oh....

[jabreal00]

04:28 PM on 08/13/2011

We are seeing the PCfication of smartphones and tablets. It's only a matter of time before third party anti-virus and anti-malware start hawking their wares for the Android platform. It will be one more bloatware that slows down people's phones and tablets and not to mention further drain the pitiful battery life. For now I'll stick to my "walled garden" rather than weed infested open lot.

[Krek]

04:44 PM on 08/13/2011

There are AV program already available for Android. They're not bloatware - they serve a function, and like PC AV programs are entirely unobtrustive.

If you want to talk about bloatware I'd be interested to know what you call an entire home screen filled with apps that cannot be removed without jailbreaking your phone.

[jabreal00]

06:45 PM on 08/14/2011

If you are referring to programs like Macafee or Norton, those two are notoriously a pain in the @ss. They constantly nag to update. Despite what you say, they don't run quietly in the background. It's just one more program to drain the pitiful battery life.

[orbs]

02:35 PM on 08/13/2011

What? A telecommunication device susceptible to hacking?

Say it isn't so!