14 DAY TRIAL // In recent weeks, we have been talking a lot about Stagefright, a critical vulnerability that was found to affect a whopping 95% of Android devices out there. Cybersecurity firm Zimperium, which identified the flaw, dubbed it the “Mother of all Android Vulnerabilities” in order to highlight the high level of risk.
In the wake of this announcement, both Samsung and Google have announced their intention to roll out security updates for their respective devices (Samsung for its Galaxy models and Google for its Nexus devices) each month.
Stagefright is highly dangerous because it is silent and can affect devices without owners actually being aware of it. All it takes is a simple MMS to gain system or media privileges for it.
Device manufacturers like Samsung have taken notice of the problem that lies with the Stagefright vulnerability and many others are expected to follow the same path and work hand in hand with carriers in order to provide security fixes.
Actually, in the US, Sprint has already started rolling out a Stagefright fix for some of its Samsung handsets, including the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy Note Edge, and Galaxy S5.
Are you unsure if your phone is Stagefright-vulnerable?
Anyway, while you wait for the maker of your handset to roll out the device-specific security fixes against Stagefright, you can take a few steps to ensure that your unit is protected. For starters, you will have to disable the automatic retrieval of MMSs on your device, which most messaging apps support.
You can also use the Stagefright Detector App, developed by the security firm that uncovered the vulnerability in the first place, Zimperium. You can download the application from the Google Play store. Once installed on your phone, you can run a quick Analysis, which does not take more than a few seconds to complete.
The results will reveal whether your device is vulnerable or not. It will also point out whether your mobile OS needs an upgrade to protect it from the vulnerability.
We have run a test on the Samsung Galaxy S4, which is yet to receive any security fixes, and the application has found it to be vulnerable to Stagefright. Samsung, you’d better hurry up!
