Google has extended its Patch Reward Program to include a raft of new platforms and technologies including its own Android system as it looks to improve the securiry of open source software.
The firm announced an overhaul to its security patch policies last month, offering white hats up to $3,133 for fixes.
CyanogenMod, the largest custom Android ROM, is looking to jump into the mainstream in a big way. The top members of the team responsible for the ROM recently received $7 million in funding to form CyanogenMod Inc.
Google's mobile operating system Android has been a whipping boy for some segments of the security community, but the latest version of the software may begin to rehabilitate its reputation.
Android 4.4, or KitKat, contains a number of new and improved features that are garnering the praise of malware fighters. They include improved implementation of SELinux, better warnings about bad website certificates, and a fortified method for blocking potential malicious changes to the operating system.
According to F-Secure’s latest report titled ‘Mobile Threats’ covering the latest developments in the mobile malware sector for Q3 2013, the vast majority of malware is targeted directly at Android.
It's fair to say that Android went through some chaotic years in the beginning. The pace of development was frantic as the operating system grew at an unprecedented rate.
An as-yet undetermined future led to decisions that were made to conform to existing hardware and architectures, the available development tools, and the basic need to ship working code on tight deadlines.
In this, the fifth year of Android's existence, we also have seen the release of the fifth Nexus phone — appropriately enough called the Nexus 5. Meanwhile, it's been two years since we saw the release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich — and since then we've only seen "point" updates, up to and including the latest, Android 4.4 KitKat.
Google showed off its new Android version 4.4 (or KitKat) operating system, running on a new flagship phone, the Nexus 5. Google uses its Nexus line to show off its new operating systems, and the device and OS are reflections of each other. Seen together, they reveal a Google that is boundlessly ambitious and aiming to take on the world with the things only it can do.
If you believe the predictions, Google is going to announce Android 4.4 KitKat (and the Nexus 5) in mere hours. According to a new report based on leaked marketing materials, Android 4.4 is going to tackle some of the biggest issues that have been plaguing the platform and Google's services as a whole.
If you want to keep your Android smartphone safe, you'll have to take charge of its security. This means that you'll either have to tinker with the phone's security settings — or let a third-party app handle it for you.
Third-party Android security apps are powerful, easy to use and often free. Yet, according to a just-released report by Moscow's Kaspersky Lab, only about 40 percent of Android device owners use these apps.
Android is well known for its seemingly never-ending customization options and its permissive rooting credentials (well, among other things). Distributions that cannot be modified to enable elevated permissions are quite rare, as enthusiasts seek to have virtually every possible feature available at their disposal. But should you pursue that path? Does root provide what you need, or what you think you need?
