The latest version of Google’s mobile operating system, Android Nougat, has quite a few security improvements over older versions and, in fact, its arrival on the market is more than necessary. Not for nothing, Android has managed to win the dubious honor of being the product with the most security vulnerabilities discovered in 2016.
According to the ranking carried out by the CVE Details digital platform, more than five hundred holes in Google’s mobile operating system over the past year have been found. To be exact, there were 523 security errors that put its more than 1.5 billion users at risk.
So Android has overtaken Apple. In 2015, the operating system of Apple computers, Mac OS X, had the greatest amount of vulnerabilities to their credit. However, this year Cupertino seems to have done their homework. They’ve gone from leading last year’s ranking with more than 400 vulnerabilities to closing out 2016 at number eleven on the list, with little more than 200 holes identified throughout the year.
So it turns out having a mobile fleet in your company comprised of Android phones can pose a real risk if you don’t have the right protection. In addition, it is important to update the terminal with the latest version possible, which ultimately will depend on the manufacturer (some are quicker than others, and all are abandoning their older models completely). It’s no wonder there are more than 300 million Android devices that no longer even receive security patches.
Two Linux distributers, Debian and Ubuntu, are the technological products that join Android on the podium of the most error-riddled software. Throughout 2016 over 300 vulnerabilities were found in Debian, while the other distributer came in third place with almost 280 errors.
Choosing your company’s technological tools can be key to preserving both your safety and that of your customers. However, not many are able to escape vulnerabilities: operating systems like Windows 10, browsers such as Google Chrome, or software giants like Adobe are also among the twenty products with the most vulnerabilities discovered in 2016.