Google issues urgent security update after TWO new Android flaws are discovered

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Google has released urgent security update after two potentially very serious security flaws were discovered in its Android mobile operating system.

The new flaws are reportedly linked to the Stagefright bug and could have left hundreds of millions of Android phones and tablets vulnerable to hackers.

The Stagefright bug allowed hackers to take total control of your phone by using a malicious type of JPEG image file, which was sent to unsuspecting victims via and MMS or email.

It first hit the headlines last year when it was revealed that almost half a billion devices were left vulnerable from the bug.

The two latest flaws are similar to Stagefright in that they would allow hackers to take full control of your device, giving them access to all your files, passwords and other personal information.

However, with the new flaws, users would not even need to download a malicious file in order for their device to be infected with the bug, it could infect devices by simply being opened from a social media post or similar.

The other major flaw was just as serious, allowing hackers to execute malware or ransomware in order to gain access to personal information and apps in the infected devices.

Codenamed CVE 2016, 3861, Google confirmed the flaws have been patched and no longer pose a risk. They also added the flaws had only be designed for research purposes but took measures to issue the security updates to protect against them being exploited in the future.

The security updates are included in Android’s latest security bulletin, which is available to Nexus users right now, and will be pushed out to third party Android devices in the coming weeks.

Source: Android Security Bulletin

[WardyGTC]

Use an SMS app with Stagefright protectio built in, I've been usung Textra SMS for years, ever since Stagefright first surfaced.

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Translated from Thai:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung’s recall of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 phones after several dozen caught fire and exploded may stem from a subtle manufacturing error, but it highlights the challenge electronics makers face in packing ever more battery power into ever thinner phones, while rushing for faster release dates.

Announcing the recall on Sept. 2, Samsung confirmed dozens of cases where Note 7 batteries caught fire or exploded, mostly while charging. It plans a software update that will cap battery recharging at 60 percent capacity to help minimize risks of overheating. But it is urging owners to keep the phones turned off until they can get them replaced, beginning Sept. 19.

The Note 7 debuted to rave reviews in August thanks to its speed, new software features and — not least — the estimated nine hours it would run between charges. But all that power comes at a price: users began reporting the phones were catching fire or exploding, in one case incinerating the SUV it had been left in.

Aviation authorities in the U.S., Australia and Europe have urged passengers not to use or charge Note 7s while flying and not to put them in checked baggage. On Monday, Canada issued an official recall.

Koh Dong-jin, Samsung’s mobile president, said in announcing the recall on Sept. 2 that an investigation turned up a “tiny error” in the manufacturing process for the faulty batteries in the Note 7s that was very difficult to identify. The end of the pouch-shaped battery cell had some flaws that increased the chance of stress or overheating, he explained.

That kind of manufacturing error is unimaginable for top-notch battery makers with adequate quality controls, said Park Chul Wan, a former director of the next generation battery research center at the state-owned Korea Electronics Technology Institute.

Samsung and other experts should search for factors outside the battery cells that could have led to overheating, he said.

“If Koh’s argument is right, that makes Samsung SDI a third-rate company,” Park said. “But it does not appear to be a simple battery problem.”

Time also is a factor in marketing and making the phones.

In 2015, Samsung moved up its unveiling of its new Galaxy Note model to August from September, seeking a leg up on Apple’s September iPhone upgrades.

Before the issue of battery explosions emerged, supplies were not keeping pace with demand for the Note 7.

Samsung has not recalled Note 7s sold in China, but the company has refused to say which of its two battery suppliers made the faulty batteries or clarify whose batteries are used in which Note 7 smartphones. The company also refused comment on South Korean media reports that it has stopped using batteries from Samsung SDI, one of its two suppliers, in the Note 7.

C.W. Chung, an analyst at Nomura Securities in Seoul, cited SDI officials in estimating that about 70 percent of the batteries for the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones came from SDI.

The other 30 percent are thought to have been supplied by Amperex Technology Ltd., a Chinese-based manufacturer that reportedly also is a main supplier of batteries for the iPhone.

The batteries are ubiquitous in consumer electronic devices, favored by manufacturers because they are lightweight and pack much more energy into a small space than other power cells.

 “The flaw in the manufacturing process resulted in the negative electrodes and the positive electrodes coming together,” he told reporters in Seoul.

South Korean experts suggested Samsung may have been so ambitious with the Note 7’s design that it compromised safety.

The 3,500 mAh battery in the Samsung Note 7 is “one of the highest, if not the highest, capacity battery we’ve seen in a phone,” said Wayne Lam, an industry analyst at IHS Markit Technology.

Lam said he thinks the Note 7 battery problem resulted from weak controls in manufacturing, not a poor or unsafe design.

A spokeswoman at iFixit, which publishes repair guides for electronic gadgets, offered a similar view. “We don’t think any internal design changes in the Note 7 are responsible for the exploding batteries — more likely just a manufacturing defect,” IFixit’s Kay-Kay Clapp said in an email.

Apple has tweaked hardware and software it developed itself to make iPhones use power more efficiently, while Samsung has increased the capacity of the batteries in its phones.

That can be done without increasing size by adjusting components or changing the production process, Lam said.

“You have two different trajectories, with Samsung packing in more energy density, versus Apple trying to trim it down by optimizing everything else,” he said, adding that the two rivals are “constantly locked in this arms race of improving and one-upping.”

Source: YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Technology Writer