Android devices have been found to have serious security flaws, giving hackers complete access to one’s phone’s data. Check Point has recently shown light to four defects, known as the Quadrooter, that can take advantage of the Qualcomm driver software used for graphics, memory, and routing to get access and install spyware to hack a device. The attacker would only need to download an innocuous, permissions-free app to deliver the virus. Qualcomm is a United States firm that makes processors, which are found in 900 million Android phones, said Check Point.
Michael Shaulov, head of the mobility product management st the Check Point warned the BBC that these defects in the Qualcomm processor would be used in the next three to four months. He said that it is generally a race of who finds the bug first; the good guys and the bad guys. The flaws have been found in the graphics software and the one that deals with the various processes running in a phone. Proper exploitation of the bug would let the hacker to slowly take control over a device and then the data it possesses. As of right now all the 900 million users remain at risk unless the vulnerable Qualcomm chips are patched.
Checkpoint has already handed the information about the bugs to Qualcomm. Qualcomm, in return, is said to have developed patches and started factory testing.
The bugs affecting Qualcomm could allow seemingly harmless apps to gain control of the device and the data. Such apps would not require any social permissions to take advantage of these vulnerabilities. The users would not even be aware of a breach, even after days of it happening.
