ANDROID ADVISOR
FEATURE
the other security enhancements Google delivered last year were mostly limited to Oreo. Among the features in the latest version of Android are stronger encryption and key storage, tighter sandboxing, kernel self-protection, and an updated version of Android Verified Boot. But the biggest change in Android 8.0 security is to the handling of apps from sources other than the Play Store. Where users previously could easily access an Unverified Sources toggle to allow installations of non-Play Store-approved apps, in Oreo it’s a behind-the-scenes permission that automatically runs whenever an app is side-loaded. The means users can’t unwittingly turn it of, but it also means that a malicious app can’t do it either. Google also paid out more than $1.25 million as part of its bug bounty program, but very few of them critical Oreo vulnerabilities. In fact, Google reports, at the 2017 Mobile Pwn2Own competition, none of the exploits were able to successfully compromise Google Pixel devices. That event was held in October, however, after the phones received their Oreo update.
All about that Treble Overall, things might be looking up. While Android updates generally follow the same slow adoption rate, Google’s new Project Treble could ramp up the number of phones running Android P. The Oreo feature makes it easier for manufacturers to deliver updates to phones, so the phones running Android 8 should receive version 9 much quicker. That means everyone will be a whole lot safer.
110 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 49