[ThisGuysGood]

It's seems after Android was just recovering from the first Stage Fright virus its sent reeling once again with the news a new more advanced Stage Fright 2 is now infecting Android.

http://m.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/...pqdRPWuGREEZyK

[clonmult]

You really have a pathalogical hatred of Android.

1. Its not a virus. Its a bug. HUGE difference. Its a vulnerability, the sort of thing that appears on each version of iOS before Apple patch it.

2. As it isn't a virus, it isn't "infecting" anything.

It is only an issue if you view/open a special crafted MP3 or MP4 file. Which won't happen on a legit website. And further, this hasn't actually been exploited.

Your spin is quite entertaining at times, but this is just silly.

[ThisGuysGood]

No hatred, I was just browsing the DS tech news and saw the story, it was also me who posted the story about infected apps on the app Apple App Store.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clonmult

Your spin is quite entertaining at times, but this is just silly.

What is silly is the lack of updates for the majority of androids to fix any of these vulnerabilities. Apple devices would have had an update that week, and even Windows Phone updates are more frequent. :-/

[clonmult]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThisGuysGood

No hatred, I was just browsing the DS tech news and saw the story, it was also me who posted the story about infected apps on the app Apple App Store.

In that case, you're an aspiring Daily Mail headline writer.

Using inaccurate phrases such as virus, reeling, infecting, when none of those are actually the case is ... scaremongering.

These things will probably be exploited at some point, but it'll barely impact anyone. Strikes me as being similar to the Symbian viruses years back - potential was there, but it was never realised.

[kidspud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clonmult

In that case, you're an aspiring Daily Mail headline writer.

Using inaccurate phrases such as virus, reeling, infecting, when none of those are actually the case is ... scaremongering.

These things will probably be exploited at some point, but it'll barely impact anyone. Strikes me as being similar to the Symbian viruses years back - potential was there, but it was never realised.

The DS article (incorrectly) refers to it as a virus.

The advice given by some last time was just to switch off MMS. Maybe this time the advice is just don't play any MP3/MP4 files?

[tdenson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clonmult

You really have a pathalogical hatred of Android.

1. Its not a virus. Its a bug. HUGE difference. Its a vulnerability, the sort of thing that appears on each version of iOS before Apple patch it.
.

And you seem to have an irrational hatred of Apple. You can't have it both ways. You can't complain that Apple is a walled garden and therefore you can't get access to the low level innards of the operating system, and then with the same breath say that IOS and Android are equally at risk. That is just plain illogical. They are two different philosophies, there are arguments in favour of both. You pays yer money and makes yer choice.

Oh, and BTW he did say it was "potentially infected with a virus" - that is the definition of a vulnerability i.e. has the potential to be infected.

[Stuart_h]

What's the point here ? That there are a billion android units (wow - didn't realise there were that many) or that there is a vulnerability in android ?

If we had a thread every time there was a new windows virus (1.25 billion windows PC's allegedly) then it would be a very busy site.

I strongly suspect that there will be many more vulnerabilities found in Android, iOS, windows, OSX. Sadly that's the way of the world - make some software and there is always someone out there who will want to break it. Windows was always the main target (due to volume of users increasing the impact) and it now looks like android is having the same appeal.

1 billion units is scary big !!!???

[ThisGuysGood]

The point is making people aware an if you follow the link the story contains information to help you ensure your device is clean.

Of course you seem to of missed that.

[finbaar]

Of course every iPhone is potentially infected with serious malware. We just don't know about it yet.

[IvanIV]

The great difference between a bug on iOS and Android is that iOS can be patched very quickly, sometimes even too quickly OTOH Android bug can be patched quickly only on Nexus devices where Alphabet has a full control over source code, or it has to be a bug in a component that is updatable via Google Play. Everything else is close to impossible to patch, because of the open source nature of Android. Let's say Samsung wants to patch their devices. First they have to decide what versions to patch. More versions = more work = more money spent => they choose carefully and probably patch only their premium phones instead of going for the most used models to get more devices patched. Then they need to merge the source code of Alphabet bugfix into their own source code for each version they decided to patch, compile it, test it at least rudimentary, and beg carriers to prioritise it, if they still have a say, I do not know. And that's what every Android phone maker is supposed to do to patch the bug. That's something that's acceptable if you have a couple of phones with your OS on it. If you have a billion, it becomes inacceptable.

[!!11oneone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by finbaar

Of course every iPhone is potentially infected with serious malware. We just don't know about it yet.

Already happened to an extent - apparently legit apps, downloaded from the App Store, but infected with malicious code.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...k-on-app-store

[Stuart_h]

So the sensational headline breaks down to:

A security firm has found an exploit (which is how they often make their money)

Nobody has yet found any malware exploiting that flaw.

To be exposed to this flaw you would have to be using unofficial sites for mp3/mp4 files ?

.... And this gets translated to "1 billion android devices potentially infected with virus".

I'm still really at the " 1 billion devices" ..... That's an awful lot

[IvanIV]

No, the doctored MP3/MP4 file can be sent to you via MMS or email. Android code goes and proactively reads metadata. That's when the malware is started. You do not even have to open anything.

[kidspud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart_h

So the sensational headline breaks down to:

A security firm has found an exploit (which is how they often make their money)

Nobody has yet found any malware exploiting that flaw.

To be exposed to this flaw you would have to be using unofficial sites for mp3/mp4 files ?

.... And this gets translated to "1 billion android devices potentially infected with virus".

I'm still really at the " 1 billion devices" ..... That's an awful lot

I'm not sure I would take too much notice of the 1 billion. If they are counting the number sold, then it includes the 2 sitting in my desk doing nothing for the last 5 months.

If they are getting the number from google then it will not include the multitude of Chinese devices that don't have official builds. So could be lower or higher.

[Stuart_h]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kidspud

I'm not sure I would take too much notice of the 1 billion. If they are counting the number sold, then it includes the 2 sitting in my desk doing nothing for the last 5 months.

If they are getting the number from google then it will not include the multitude of Chinese devices that don't have official builds. So could be lower or higher.

Yep. I have a couple of android tablets gathering dust. I was very surprised at it compared to the 1.25 billion desktop windows installs though - and that's including estimated idle machines. I would have expected PCs to still far outnumber smartphone. Just shows how far we have come in a relatively short time.

[clonmult]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdenson

And you seem to have an irrational hatred of Apple. You can't have it both ways. You can't complain that Apple is a walled garden and therefore you can't get access to the low level innards of the operating system, and then with the same breath say that IOS and Android are equally at risk. That is just plain illogical. They are two different philosophies, there are arguments in favour of both. You pays yer money and makes yer choice.

Oh, and BTW he did say it was "potentially infected with a virus" - that is the definition of a vulnerability i.e. has the potential to be infected.

Not sure where you get that idea, I've never said such things. I have several bits of Apple kit (iPhone, shuffle iPod, iPod Touch), and like some of their products. I just can't stand obvious bias.

Most operatings systems have vulnerabilities. In fact, all mainstream Os's have vulnerabilities.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart_h

I would have expected PCs to still far outnumber smartphone. Just shows how far we have come in a relatively short time.

Some good analysis that illustrates this:

http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2...ne-and-the-sun

http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2...4/mobile-first

[Stuart_h]

Malware is a different thing to a virus.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart_h

Malware is a different thing to a virus.

Many many people don't have a clue what the difference is. A vulnerability / malware / worm / virus are apparently interchangeable :-/