Google found 11 ‘high-impact security issues’ with Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
Not a day goes by where we don’t hear about a new cybersecurity bungle.
Google has revealed 11 different security flaws that affect the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
The bugs were revealed by Project Zero, the team of security analysts employed by Google to uncover zero-day exploits.
According to Project Zero team member Natalie Silvanovich, the bugs are all “high-impact security issues”.
“A week of investigation showed that there are a number of weak points in the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge,” explains Silvanovich.
She continued: “
After uncovering the exploitable flaws, the Project Zero team reported the issues to Samsung.
The team revealed that the majority of the issues were fixed within 90 days via an OTA update.
Silvanovich says the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge was chosen as a target device because “it is a recent high-end device with a large number of users”.
The aim of the investigation was to see how difficult finding bugs would be in a device running Android that wasn’t built by Google.
Related: Samsung Galaxy S6 vs iPhone 6
Dr Steven Murdoch, a security researcher at the University College London, described the bugs as having “significantly weakened the security” of Android, speaking to the BBC.
“There is definitely a tension between Google and the handset manufacturers because Google wants to protect its Android brand, and when it comes to security, Android has been quite tarnished,” explained Murdoch.
He added: “Some of that is down to the extra software that handset manufacturers add.”
Do you think OEMs should do more to ensure the security of their users? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
