It has been a week since Stagefright has been discovered by Zimperium. The security firm branded the attack as the largest the android operating system has gotten so far. Stagefright has reportedly infected 95 percent of android devices. Google has announced on Wednesday, August 5, that it has released a bug fix that will eliminate the flaw.
The company said that majority of the android devices have actually been protected by the "address space layout organization programming technique", and that a new feature will come to its messenger app. The messenger app has been used to propagate the Stagefright bug, which is disguised as video links. Through messenger, the links have been sent to android users. With the app, the bug infects the device, giving hackers control, without users even having to click on the link.
Google has released the fix and update to Nexus models. The support will be issued monthly beginning this August, following the attack, the company said. The updates will go on for three years since the device has first hit the market or one and a half years from when its sale has stopped in the Google Store.
Now, Google's android partners are following suit. The android-powered companies received much flak because of the incident and were criticised for not giving out patches fast enough to prevent the bug from causing more damage.
Samsung has announced in an official statement that the company will begin issuing monthly security patches for its devices. In response to the Stagefright attack, it stated, "Samsung Electronics will implement a new Android security update process that fast-tracks the security patches over the air when security vulnerabilities are uncovered." The company added that the updates be regular, taking place once a month. The patches have arrived for the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy Note Edge, according to ZDNet.
LG has not divulged the details of its monthly security update plan but is also reported to be implementing a monthly update process following the attack.
Android devices comprise 90 percent of the smartphone industry. The bug has placed over one billion phone units at risk of being exposed and stolen from. The monthly security update process is a step towards ensuring the safety of so many devices and their users.
