In 2015, Google committed to pushing monthly security updates to Nexus devices, and now the company is doubling down on its focus on security.
Google today gave its Android Security 2016 Year in Review, saying that more than 735 million devices from over 200 manufacturers received a security update in 2016. “There’s still a lot of room for improvement however,” Google said, going on to say that it’s working to increase security updates by streamlining its security update program.
This streamlining process will make it even easier for device makers to deploy security patches. Google will also make it easier for companies to release A/B updates so that it’s easier for users to apply security patches.
Having a secure smartphone is important. Many folks store their whole lives on their smartphone, including photos, contact info, messages, and personal info, so it’s important that your smartphone is protected against malicious attacks. While Google is good about keeping its Nexus and Pixel phones up-to-date on security patches, not all other device makers are, so hopefully Google’s streamlining of the security update process will help other manufacturers increase their security update releases.
Other tidbits from Google’s security report include drops in the number of Potentially Harmful Application (PHA) installs and the fact that carrier and hardware partners released security updates for more than half of the top 50 devices worldwide in the last quarter of 2016.
When was the last time that your smartphone got a security update?
