A new report just emerged that android devices can be hacked when you receive a text message.........so peeps be careful the text messages you receive and open
Source: CNN
cc: lalasticlala
Supermods please front page for urgent attention

Android phones can get infected by merely receiving a picture via text message, according to research published Monday.
This is likely the biggest smartphone flaw ever discovered. It affects an estimated 950 million phones worldwide -- about 95% of the Androids in use today.
The problem stems from the way Android phones analyze incoming text messages. Even before you open a message, the phone automatically processes incoming media files -- including pictures, audio or video. That means a malware-laden file can start infecting the phone as soon as it's received, according Zimperium , a cybersecurity company that specializes in mobile devices.
If this sounds familiar, that's because this Android flaw is somewhat like the recent Apple text hack .
But in that case, a text message with just the right characters could freeze an iPhone or force it to restart. This Android flaw is worse, because a hacker could gain complete control of the phone: wiping the device, accessing apps or secretly turning on the camera.
In a statement to CNNMoney, Google ( GOOGL ,
Tech30 ) acknowledged the flaw. It assured that Android has ways of limiting a hacker's access to separate apps and phone functions. Yet hackers have been able to overcome these limitations in the past.
The bug affects any phone using Android software made in the last five years, according to Zimperium. That includes devices running Android's Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat and Lollipop iterations (Google names its Android versions alphabetically after desserts).
Zimperium said it warned Google about the flaw on April 9 and even provided a fix. The company claims Google responded the very next day, assuring a patch would be shared with customers in the future.
Typically, in these situations, companies are given a 90-day grace period to issue a fix. It's a rule even Google abides by when it finds flaws in others' software.
But it's been 109 days, and a fix still isn't largely available. That's why Zimperium is now going public with the news.
The issue now is how quickly Google will manage to fix this for everybody. While Apple can push out updates to all iPhones, Google can't.
Google is notorious for having a fractured distribution system. Several entities stand in between Google and its users, and they routinely slow down the release of new software. There's phone carriers -- like AT&T (T , Tech30 ) and
Verizon ( VZ , Tech30 ) -- and makers of physical devices -- like Samsung ( SSNLF ) -- all of which need to work together to issue software updates.
Google told CNNMoney it already sent a fix to its "partners." However, it's unclear if any of them have started pushing that out to users themselves.
For that very reason, Google recently put its own Nexus phones first in line to receive updates
.
This could be a test case that shows why it's so important to receive updates quickly.
Chris Wysopal is a longtime hacker and now an executive at cybersecurity firm Veracode. He called this Android's version of Heartbleed , the devastating bug that put millions of computer networks at serious risk last year.
"I'm interested to see if Google comes up with a way to update devices remotely," he said. "Unless they can do that, we have a big disaster on our hands"...........Source: CNN

Saw this on the news today. Google says a patch has been released but it's unknown when various phone companies ands network providers will make it available across their device.

UjSizzle:
Saw this on the news today. Google says a patch has been released but it's unknown when various phone companies ands network providers will make it available across their device.

I heard as well hope the phone companies will do the needful because its a big security risk.

Those dat take nude pics shud take note

sinaj:
Those dat take nude pics shud take note

on point bro.......not only that even personal info like bank account details, password etc

Larry37:

on point bro.......not only that even personal info like bank account details, password etc

u r right sis.

Tech and flaws.. Man and error are inseparable..

sinaj:


u r right sis.

so you'r a 'bro' and He is a 'sis'?!
He hasn't gotten the joke, not yet.

paranorman:
so you'r a 'bro' and He is a 'sis'?! He hasn't gotten the joke, not yet.

d guy see 'f' for my profile de cal me bros

sinaj:



d guy see 'f' for my profile de cal me bros

hehehe.. Not his fault. That's because techy women in Naija are still rare. Browse aroung this section, you won't get to see lotta 'f's.

sinaj:


u r right sis.

sis? haba! i be bro ooo
no mind me sis.........its a man's world hehehehehehe!

It Doesnt Matter Whether You Open The Message Or Not, Once You Recive It, You Are Hacked. The Only Countermeasure Is To Upgrage Your Phone.

Larry37:
sis? haba! i be bro ooo no mind me sis.........its a man's world hehehehehehe!

xo u don discover say I b gurl

Trizyd:
It Doesnt Matter Whether You Open The Message Or Not, Once You Recive It, You Are Hacked. The Only Countermeasure Is To Upgrage Your Phone.

yup that's what we are waiting for.........you know Google owns android but there is a marketing agreement with some phone companies which means Google can't send the update directly to its users so we are waiting for the companies to do so on their behalf.

sinaj:

xo u don discover say I b gurl

yes ooo didn't c ur profile earlier

Google is scaling back its unpopular social network integrations, starting with YouTube comments.
YouTube will no longer require users have a Google+ account to comment on or post videos. The
conscious uncoupling is the latest attempt by Google separate its popular products from the flailing social network.
More products will announce similar changes in the coming months, Google ( GOOG ) said in a pair of Blogger posts announcing the unsurprising news on Monday. YouTube will be first, and users will soon be able to leave their trademark incisive and intellectual comments on videos without a Google+ account.
"We want to formally retire the notion that a Google+ membership is required for anything at Google ... other than using Google+ itself," said Google VP Bradley Horowitz on Google+ .
Google has spent much of the last four years awkwardly attempting to graft Google+ onto most of its products. The attempt to take on Facebook
( FB , Tech30 ) and Twitter (TWTR , Tech30 ) with a unifying identity across Google was met with resistance by Google users. They bristled at the sometimes clumsy roll out, social features where they were unwanted, and a controversial "real names" policy.
The public ramping-down of Google+ started last year, when Google killed the requirement that users have a Google+ account to sign up for services. At Google I/O in May, the product was barely mentioned as the shiny new Google Photos raided it for parts.
"While we got certain things right, we made a few choices that, in hindsight, we've needed to rethink," said Horowitz in the main announcement blog.
But the company insists Google+ will continue to exist. It's not going to the way of Google Buzz, Wave or Reader, at least not yet. It even recently added a new feature called Collections.
So what will remain of Google+? It will live on as a way for people with shared interests to communicate. Like Yahoo ( YHOO , Tech30 ) Groups, Facebook Groups, or Google's own neglected Google Groups.
Google+ profiles will continue to exist, so people will have to manually remove them from their other Google services. (The company promises an easier way to de-Google+ your accounts in the future.) Hangouts, the service's breakout feature, is already an independent app. It will gain some of Google+'s location features.

sinaj:



d guy see 'f' for my profile de cal me bros

shey em no see "f" for ur moniker nii?