Android hit by malware that exploits 14 months old bug

FUD Zilla reports Google's Android operating system is under attack by a new piece of malware that uses a 14 months old vulnerability. A critical bug in Android's WebView programming interfae gives attackers remote access to the device's camera, file system, SD memory, and address books. The vulnerability was patched in November 2013 with the release of Android 4.2, but the fix is only installed on well under half of all Android devices.

Tod Beardsley, a researcher for Metasploit maintainer Rapid7 vendors need to move towards ensuring that single-click vulnerabilities like this don't last for 93+ weeks in the wild. Yesterday US Civil liberties advocates have asked the US Federal Trade Commission to take action against the nation's four major wireless carriers for selling millions of Android smartphones that never, or only rarely, receive updates to patch dangerous security vulnerabilities.