Google puts thousands of Android users at risk – Pplware

Created by Pedro Simões on January 13th, 2015 | Category: Android, Information, Security | 30 comments

The Android fragmentation problem has a vast impact on users and throughout their ecosystem. The existence of multiple versions of Android to be used causes a dispersion of efforts and a more complicated management problems.

A recent Google’s decision has shown this problem and reveal that thousands of Android users go to From now be exposed to security problems.

The decision means that this problem arises is related to the end of Google’s support for older versions of Android component.

Specifically WebView component of Android, which allows programmers to provide access to web content without having to be open a browser no longer have support for older versions or equal to Android 4.3.

The WebView is one of the elements which are detected more often security problems on Android and also one of the fastest times are exploited by malicious users.

This component was being updated on a regular basis, but to be integrated with the operating system itself forced Google to a much more effort.

As of now only versions 4.4, 5 and Android following will be entitled to support from Google and the consequent resolution of problems if they arise.

Google does not rule out completely the release of updates to this component, but warned that have to be the Android community to provide these problem-solving, under the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

The problem associated with this decision is in the very high number of devices that still use these less recent versions of Android and that from now on will be exposed to security problems.

Currently the version of WebView which is in version 4.3 and earlier of Android has at least 11 identified security flaw and that will never be fixed.

In the case of the latest systems, and particularly in Lollipop version, Google fixed the problem bringing this component out of the operating system and placing it accessible for updates via Play Store.

They calculate that the number of users affected by this decision Google is around 930 million. All of these are using versions of Android that Google considers to be superseded and therefore do not deserve any developments

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