Google Android puts your personal information at risk

 

Google's Android smartphone operating system can betray your personal information, a study finds.

Hackers could potentially steal personal information from your Google Android smartphone because of serious errors with the operating system (OS), a software security firm has discovered.

Coverity found 359 “software defects” when it tested the security of the latest version of Android - known as Froyo.

It classified 25% of the errors as “high-risk” because of their potential to cause security breaches and smartphone crashes.

Some of the errors have the potential to:

• Allow private data, including email addresses, to be extracted
• Cause apps to crash
• Cause memory corruptions.

Andy Chou, chief scientist at Coverity, said: “We believe that highlighting these risks proactively provides developers and OEMs with an opportunity to fix these defects before they become a problem.”

The firm believes the onus is on smartphone manufacturers, such as HTC and LG, to fix possible problems within their Android smartphones before selling them to customers.

Simon Piper, business development manager at Mobilechoices.co.uk, said: “Coverity’s findings are particularly worrying because Android’s popularity is growing very quickly.”

Google Android has a 17.7% market share, putting it in second place behind Nokia’s Symbian, according to analyst firm Gartner. But by 2014 Gartner predicts it could have a share of almost 30%.

Google were unwilling to comment becuase they "are still helping Coverity review their findings."

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