14 DAY TRIAL // Security is of utmost importance even when it comes to mobile devices, so Google has published a list of 42 Android devices whose users are running security updates published in the past two months.
According to the company, most of the users of these devices have run the updates, with most of the phones being made by Samsung; 14 to be more specific, including the Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S7 Edge, and others. Additionally, there are also devices from LG, Motorola, Vivo, Sony and Google itself, but that last one was to be expected since updates are first delivered to the company's own devices.
As mentioned, users of these 42 devices are running updates released in the past two months. When the period of time is extended to three months, the number of devices rises above 100.
Inflated bug bounties
The info comes included with other news from the Android owner. According to the blog post, the top tier of its Android Security Rewards has just been bumped.
Specifically, the company said it would be paying $200,000 to any security researcher who files a bug report for a remote exploit chain or exploit leading to TrustZone or Verified Boot compromise. This is something the company previously paid $50,000 for.
Furthermore, they'll also pay $150,000 to any security researcher who files a bug report for a remote kernel exploit, which is something Google previously paid only $30,000 for.
The reward increase comes after Google ran a failed contest last year. The company enticed security researchers with prizes of $200,000, $100,000 and $50,000 for first, second and third place, respectively, if they could find a full exploit chain that would compromise Android devices. No one submitted any bug reports due to the difficulty of the task.
In the past two years since the Android Security Rewards program was implemented, Google says it paid over $1,5 million in rewards to 115 individuals or security teams for 450 valid vulnerability reports.