Android
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Android is a widely used mobile operating system developed by Google. By itself, it is generally a good OS, but in practice, it is often bundled with manufacturer malware when installed by default.
Contents
Distributions with Pre-installed Malware
Although open source, Android is often sold preinstalled on mobile phones with dozens of pieces of propreitary malware, usually not able to be uninstalled and sometimes even invisible to end users. The propreitary Android cellphone, in this state, has been described as "the most sophisticated surveillance machine to date for monitoring your routines."[1] Even with a custom ROM, Google Play Services itself can act as spyware, tracking one's location [2], for example.
To avoid software-based malware on Android phones, one should use one that gives the user full control of it, rootable and with either plain AOSP Android or support for LineageOS. For additional security, one should avoid installing Google Apps, using alternatives to them, such as F-Droid as an alternative to the Google Playstore. Another security risk is propreitary drivers for the phone's hardware, which being closed source, cannot be independantly verified to be safe. Dealing with these requires either a phone with open drivers available or one writing open drivers themselves. Since reverse engineering hardware protocols can be an extremely challenging ordeal, one should usually avoid phones with propreitary drivers if they want maximum security.
Google Playstore
A joint investigation by researchers from Security Without Borders and Viceconcluded in March 2019 that the Google Playstore had around 20 malware apps that went undetected for 2 or so years.[3]
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Huawei’s phone business would be decimated without Google’s Android | Article | 20 May 2019 | Vlad Savov | A resolution to the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China is now more urgent than ever. However, China is unlikely to react positively to the bullying tactics of the US. And that means Huawei’s phone business may be in limbo for a while yet. |
