If you use an Android smartphone, an Indian government agency has issued a warning for you. This warning has been issued by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in). The versions for which this warning has been issued are used by millions of people in India. It is reported that the agency has found some flaws in the Android operating system. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, attackers can run arbitrary code on the device. This can put smartphones in danger.
According to CERT-in, this bug affects Android 13, 14, 15, and 16. This means millions of smartphones are at risk, as Android 16 is the latest version. However, most people have smartphones running Android 14 or 15. Be careful if you have smartphones running these Android versions from Pixel, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, Realme, Motorola, OnePlus or Samsung.
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According to the agency, these flaws are from hardware and software vendors. These include components from Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom and Unisoc. It is worth noting that these components are used in most Android smartphones. The Indian Government agency has placed this flaw in the high-risk category. This means that hackers can take advantage of this to steal financial information from your phone. They can also withdraw money from your account. The good thing is that Google is also aware of this flaw and has fixed it in the November security patch. However, if you want to stay safe, you need to install the latest security patches on your phone immediately, otherwise your phone will remain vulnerable.
CERT explains how to stay safe
Update your phone’s software immediately. Do not skip any security patches.
Go to Settings and turn on auto-update so that your phone gets updated as soon as an update arrives.
Use Play Protect on Google Play Store.
Don’t follow suspicious links that contain attachments.
Avoid installing any third-party apps.