If you’re an iPhone user who constantly gets berated by friends who are loyal to Android phones, I have some ammo for the next time your bestie’s brother says, “well my Android phone screen NEVER cracks.”
Android has had a tough year of press, with several instances of hackers breaking into the operating system. Specific instances include stealing fingerprints and all of yourprivate data and information. One of the reasons these hacks are happening on Android phones and not iPhones are the way their operating systems are released.
Apple streamlines the production of their hardware and software, making it more efficient to role out new releases and patches (bug fixes). Google (who powers the OS behind Android) releases their updates to cell phone manufacturers and carriers, leaving it up to them to release to their users. So hold back on Google-shaming – it’s not entirely their fault.
One of the more recent hacks was uncovered by Zimperium security researcher Joshua Drake. He notified Google and provided the necessary patch, and Google approved the fix and sent it out to their carries and manufacturers. Remember – the fix then wasn’t implemented until the carriers released it to their users. One can argue that streaming updates processes like Apple could prevent hacks like this in the future, or fixing ones that occur more efficiently and quickly, but this is only one factor to consider when tackling the larger issue of hackers getting into your phones.
For example, when the sensor hack for fingerprints happened, hackers not only had access to fingerprints through mobile phones, but through any mobile device that had a sensor installed. So, if your computer or tablet has a sensor for your fingerprint – you’re still at-risk.
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