The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued a serious warning to Android users. Currently, India’s cybersecurity unit spotted multiple high-risk vulnerabilities in Qualcomm and MediaTek processor smartphones. The agency listed Android versions 12, 12L, 13, and 14 software that have been affected due to the latest identified vulnerabilities.
These vulnerabilities, reported in Android, could be exploited by hackers to get access to sensitive information and gain elevated privileges. These vulnerabilities exist in Android due to flaws in the Framework, System, Kernel, Arm component, Imagination Technologies, MediaTek components, Qualcomm components, and Qualcomm closed-source components.
A major security flaw has been identified in the Framework component, posing a significant risk of privilege escalation, enabling hackers to gain elevated access without having to need additional execution privileges. The severity of this vulnerability is determined by its potential impact on affected privileges. The severity of this vulnerability is determined by its potential impact on affected devices, assuming that typical security measures are disabled.
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How Can Users Protect Their Android Smartphones?
In order to protect your Android smartphones from such vulnerabilities, you can take several precautions. Here is a step-by-step guide for the same:
Update your device: As per the Android security platform and Google Play Protect, exploitation of several issues on Android is made more difficult by upgrades in newer versions of the platform. All users are recommended to update to the newest version of the operating system.
Keep automatic updates on: Users should enable automatic updates for both their OS and apps. By keeping software up-to-date, users will get timely security patches and updates, minimizing their vulnerability and potential threats and protecting your system from newly discovered weaknesses.
Avoid clicking on unknown links: Users should download apps from trusted sources like the Google Play Store. Besides, users should be cautious of unsolicited messages, emails, or links, especially those that ask for personal information or credentials. Phishing attacks are common methods for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
Factory reset: If users come across any suspicious activity on their device, they should consider performing a factory reset. This will erase all data on their device, including any malware, but they should first make a back up of important data.
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Indian Government Issues ‘Severe’ Warning For Apple Users
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has also issued a "severe" warning for all Apple device users in India. The agency has flagged multiple vulnerabilities in Apple products such as iPhones, iPads, Macs, and others. The vulnerabilities could lead to sensitive information leaks, arbitrary code execution, security bypasses, denial of service (DoS) attacks, and spoofing attacks.
According to the CERT-In advisory dated August 2, the affected Apple software includes iOS and iPadOS versions prior to 17.6 and 16.7.9, macOS Sonoma versions prior to 14.6, macOS Ventura versions prior to 13.6.8, macOS Monterey versions prior to 12.7.6, watchOS versions prior to 10.6, tvOS versions prior to 17.6, visionOS versions prior to 1.3, and Safari versions prior to 17.6.