Based on materials from androidcentral.com
In its 2016 Annual OS Security Review Android, Google highlighted the steps the company has taken to combat malware and apps in the Play Store. It is said that only 0.05% of downloads from the Play Store in 2016 were potentially dangerous (compared to 0.15% in 2015). Verify Apps, which periodically scans your phone for malicious apps, had 750 million daily checks in 2016.
Google has also partnered with chipset manufacturers and vendors such as Qualcomm, MediaTek and NVIDIA to address known vulnerabilities with monthly security updates. During the year, 655 vulnerabilities were eliminated – more than half of the critical ones – a 275% increase compared to 2015. The company said that they sent security updates for 735 million phones from more than 200 manufacturers, the number of models covered was more than 2,000. This is approximately half of the total number of active Android devices today, amounting to 1.4 billion.
Google is currently working to push updates faster and to more devices, with 60 to 95 percent of the devices already being upgraded to users. In December, Google checked Play Services for devices that had security updates from October and later, and found that in most cases, these devices update quickly. Unsurprisingly, there are many Nexus devices on the list:
- Google pixel
- Google Pixel XL
- Motorola Moto Z Droid
- OPPO A33W
- Nexus 6 P
- Nexus 5 X
- Nexus 6
- OnePlus 3
- Samsung Galaxy S7
- Asus Zenfone 3
- BQ Aquarius M5
- Nexus 5
- Vivo V3 Max
- LG V20
- Sony Xperia X Compact
- BlackBerry Priv
We can also see that Vivo V3 Max, last year's Asian bestseller, is on the list. With solid growth Vivo and OPPO in sales – ranking # 4 and # 5 in smartphone sales respectively worldwide – it's great to see these Chinese brands subscribe to regular security updates.
Asian markets are focused on mid-range devices, which means that not a single device from brands such as HTC, Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi. Samsung does not shine here either. While the S7 was getting regular updates, the Galaxy J series – India's top-selling for the company – was left out, as was the Galaxy series.
Google says it plans to work more closely with partners around the world to streamline the update distribution process so that more devices receive monthly security updates.
In the webinar below, you can learn more about the activities of the Android Security team.
[iframe url = '// www.youtube.com/embed/kNRS6FAsagg']
In conclusion, I would like to ask you, dear readers, what importance you attach to this issue. Share in the comments!