Here's how you can find out if your smartphone is vulnerable to this potent malware.
Computer security experts have uncovered a new vulnerability that could put 900 million Android devices at serious risk of compromise. But how worried should you be and what can you do about it?
The vulnerability is, as we’ve already written, a group of four connected vulnerabilities found in Qualcomm processors. And, as Qualcomm is the world's leading provider of processors for Android phones, the number of handsets out there that could require a security patch is gargantuan.
If exploited by a malicious app, for example, QuadRooter could allow a digital miscreant to take full control of the victim's device by gaining permission to access every element of the handset. Computer security firm Check Point has only just gone public with its discovery, but Qualcomm has been in the loop for several months and has already developed fixes and patches that should eradicate the problem.
However, due to the fragmented nature of the Android ecosystem, when and how individual consumers with individual handsets on individual contracts with individual network operators get to download this fix is another matter entirely. All that is certain is that if you have a Nexus handset, your phone will be secure again within the next month.
So, if you don't have a Nexus phone, what can you do?
1) Check if you are potentially vulnerable. Check Point has developed a QuadRooter Scanner app that, when installed, will tell you if you're vulnerable.
2) If your handset is at risk and there's no sign of a fix on the horizon, the safest thing to do is to refrain from installing any new apps, even from the official Google Play store
3) Disable automatic app updates on your device -- there's a possibility a new version of an existing app could be tweaked to take advantage of the flaw.
4) The final, feasible step (no one is prepared to shut their smartphone off altogether until the flaw's eradicated) is to uninstall every unnecessary app -- that is, every app that you don't use on a daily or weekly basis
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 "malware, QuadRooter, Qualcomm, Android, Google Play")
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