Earlier this week I pointed out that Apple had come out with iOS 10.3.1 a week after coming out with iOS 10.3. It’s sole purpose was to close a hole which allowed the pwnage of an iDevice via WiFi. It turns out that this wasn’t an Apple problem. Actually, it was a problem that stemmed in the WiFi chips made by Broadcom. Why is that an important detail? Well, those chips are used in iDevices, and a ton of Android devices. This came to light via a highly detailed blog post published by Google Project Zero. But what you really care about, at least if you have an Android device, is what Ars Technica had to say on this:
Google is in the process of releasing an update in its April security bulletin. The fix is available only to a select number of device models, and even then it can take two weeks or more to be available as an over-the-air update to those who are eligible.
In short, if you have the right Android devices, you’ll get a fix quickly. For everyone else on that platform, it may take ages for you to get a fix. If you get one at all. Not good.
So, how do you protect yourself? Well, the best you can do is not to connect to free WiFi. Or even going to the extreme of turning off WiFi which in my opinion isn’t realistic unless you have an extremely good data plan. Hopefully this gets mitigated via a patch to the majority of Android users quickly.
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This entry was posted on April 6, 2017 at 9:21 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Google. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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The WiFi Exploit That Allowed Remote Pwnage Of iDevices Is In Android Phones Too
Earlier this week I pointed out that Apple had come out with iOS 10.3.1 a week after coming out with iOS 10.3. It’s sole purpose was to close a hole which allowed the pwnage of an iDevice via WiFi. It turns out that this wasn’t an Apple problem. Actually, it was a problem that stemmed in the WiFi chips made by Broadcom. Why is that an important detail? Well, those chips are used in iDevices, and a ton of Android devices. This came to light via a highly detailed blog post published by Google Project Zero. But what you really care about, at least if you have an Android device, is what Ars Technica had to say on this:
Google is in the process of releasing an update in its April security bulletin. The fix is available only to a select number of device models, and even then it can take two weeks or more to be available as an over-the-air update to those who are eligible.
In short, if you have the right Android devices, you’ll get a fix quickly. For everyone else on that platform, it may take ages for you to get a fix. If you get one at all. Not good.
So, how do you protect yourself? Well, the best you can do is not to connect to free WiFi. Or even going to the extreme of turning off WiFi which in my opinion isn’t realistic unless you have an extremely good data plan. Hopefully this gets mitigated via a patch to the majority of Android users quickly.
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This entry was posted on April 6, 2017 at 9:21 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Google. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.