Google patches two major Android security bugs - but are you still at risk?

As you all may or may not have known, Google has been working hard at patching some potentially serious Android mobile security flaws.

The company has thus fixed two major security issues that could have left millions of devices at risk of being hijacked by criminals.The flaw that i mentioned includes a variant of of the stagefright bug (which was uncovered last year and affected nearly a billion Android devices across the world). This flaw however is not the same as stagefright but but behaves similarly to it. This virus would allow hijackers to hack your device using a specially created j-peg image file , sent through Gmail and other Google services. This would allow the attackers to gain control of the device and have access to personal information or would also let them shut it down completely.

Users, who don't even download the image will be hit by the malicious bug . This means that anyone who even views the bug ( The J-peg image file) would be affected the by it. 

The other bug was similar to this bug. By the same process (the J-peg image file) hackers would gain control of the device and this would allow them to execute malware or gain access to personal information or programs on affected devices by escalated local privileges.

Know as CVE 2016-3861, Google says that it was designed only for research purposes but if in the wrong hands , could be used for some serious damage. The updates are included in Google's latest security patches ,which are available to nexus device users now , and will be rolling out to other devices very soon. However even users who have installed the update could find themselves being attacked by criminals. It seems that the Google Play store hosted apps that contain two nasty forms of malware. 

The offending apps have now been removed by google , but there's no word on how many times the apps were downloaded , meaning millions of android users could be at risk of being affected by the bug. 

Make sure that you only download the essential apps and report any app that seems fishy on the Playstore.

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Even if you delete Google Maps, you will still be tracked by Google.

Think you're safe? That you have your privacy? Well you dont. Research shows that Google, through its Google play store app, keeps track of our activities.

It seems Google is keeping a much closer eye on its android users than previously thought. 
Security researchers have recently found out that Google is able to track our location using our phone's Global positioning System (GPS). Th playstore seems to be at the root of the problem though. The service is constantly running in the background making it possible for Google to track your whereabouts. This can only be prevented by completely disabling location tracking all together.

The security researcher found this out as when he was entering a nearby McDonalds, The Google Playstore prompted him to download the McDonald's app. having thought that Google Maps was to blame ,as that is the app associated with tracking and locations, he immediately uninstalled the app. However the problem was still not solved. Thus he concluded that The Google Playstore itself and not The Google Maps app was to blame.

According to Google, They need access to your location to keep your apps up to date and provide you with up to date information for example , deals in a nearby restaurant. However since Android Marshmallow, you can set individual permissions of a single app your self. Therefore you can attempt to bock Googles access to your location yby going to settings > apps > Google play store> permissions and disable the permission for locations.

Alternatively you can go to the nuclear option and delete the Play store as well as the Google Maps app. Google is rolling out several updated to its Google Maps app which enables it to constantly monitor your location and provide you with info like promotions at shops near you, deals at restaurants in your vicinity and even local clinics that are open and local pharmacies/Shops that sell a particular item. . 

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Is the nexus brand dead? Nexus launcher now the Pixel launcher.

We've all heard one thing or the other about the nexus branding to be dead and that Google will be launching its own Pixel brand with the two new Pixel Phones. This rumor now further cements that rumor. According to recent reports the Nexus launcher which was leaked a while back is now named the Pixel launcher.


This comes as no surprise at all as Google gave us several hints at its moving away from the Nexus branding. The new launcher ,by the name of Pixel Launcher, installs in the same way the nexus launcher did. You just sideload the app to install it. Nothing much has changed from the nexus launcher except the name. Just like previous versions of the nexus launcher , it gives you a circle based folder ui, the Google search button rather than the full bar and a slide up from the bottom to open up the app tray. The only major difference now is that the Pixel Launcher will modify the icon of the calendar app to show the correct date, a nice feature indeed.


You'll have to tweak some things here and there to have the Google now page when you slide left from the homepage. otherwise if you don't mind having the Google now page right at your disposal from the home page, you can just install he apk normally and enjoy the new experience.


Here are some screenshots of the Launcher



So, do you deem the Pixel launcher worthy enough to be the default launcher on your daily driver? Let us know down below in the comments section.



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Missing features(Nexus launcher, Google search assistant and new soft keys) from Nougat coming in the First update

 

Now that google has finally started rolling out the much awaited Nougat update people have noticed something odd. As we know there were reports that there will be certain new features namely The Nexus Launcher , a new google search assistant and new software keys . We even had a leaked version of the nexus launcher to try.

However to many of us it came as a surprise that google had not included these features in the first stable build of Android 7.0 Nougat. One would certainly expect them to since their were so many developer previews before this. 

Well according to recent reports directly from google , they are going to add these features in the first Maintenance Update to Android Nougat. It also seems that google is planning to release their new nexus phones , both of them made by htc may i add ,  in early October and with the new nexus phones out google will release the First maintenance update. This would make the new Nexus phones to be the first phones on the market to have these features preinstalled on them. 

What do you think about this? Was google right not to include these features in the first stable build of its new android version? comment bellow your thoughts. 

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