Why this update is critical
There is now a battle between Google and Apple on the one hand, and the industry of medical-legal software on the other. Many recent attacks against iPhones and Androids that have triggered the update now have been attributed to the specialized software that compromises a phone to exfiltrate your data.
Medical attacks are physical-it is not the remote access compromises that you will also have seen targeting devices and which use vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems for tunnel in a device above the air. Instead, a cable is connected to a phone and connected to a computer or software running software to attack the device.
This is why Apple and now Google have both introduced updates to the operating system that restore the phones to their state “before” if they remained inactive for 72 hours. If the investigators leave telephones on shelves or in evidence of lockers before working on them, the phones will restart to deactivate USB access to unlocking, which has stopped such attacks. This caused a wave of titles when the Impact on law enforcement organizations was exhibited last year.
Whisper it quietly, but investigators now know it and can get around. Acting on phones earlier after capture or ensuring that no device is allowed to stay sleeping long enough to restart. In chat and mouse games, new traps have a limited shelf life.
This is why Google increases the bet with advanced protection mode in Android 16. When activated – and it is deactivated by default – this adds stronger defenses to phones, such as the deactivation of download connections, 2G cellular and insecure. It also blocks USB connections to phones when locked. Switch this and you can connect to any load of the airport or the hotel you want, and don’t worry about the juice.
Android authority Discover the detail behind this new defense in a recent disassembly of the APK, “which suggests activating the advanced protection mode will also deactivate the signaling of USB data when Android is locked … They also explicitly mention how new USB devices cannot be used when Android is locked. When a new USB device is connected, a notification will appear that Warns for User Of ‘Suspect USB Activity’. [the]
USB device to use it ‘. “”
Samsung Also improves maximum restrictions on its phones by allowing users to “choose to block USB connections to avoid any other access via the USB port while the device is locked, with the exception of the battery load”. Again, this parameter is part of a package that blocks risky wireless connections as well as side flow.
The reality is that these measures are necessary given the succession of exploits emanating from the forensic industry. But to activate this new protection, Android users will probably have to opt for the mobile phone version of its advanced protection program, which will be too far for many. The USB block on locked devices must be an autonomous option on Androids and iPhones, and it must be activated by default.