The appeal of the Android mobile operating system is that anyone can get access to the code and develop their own applications. Obviously this makes the market extremely diverse, allowing for anyone to make an app for any reason.
Sometimes, though, people utilize the flexibility of this system for malicious reasons, developing viruses and other malware to infect phones and cause damage. What is, perhaps, more unfortunate is that the average user does not have the ability to keep up with the smart criminal enterprises (or even just mischief-makers) to continuously update software and devices as new threats emerge.
Indeed, Google sends out small updates all the time—as often as monthly—to improve little operating system bugs as well as security vulnerabilities. And while this is great proof that Google and Android are doing their part to ensure their fans get the most out of their loyalty, no system is perfect; and this is particularly true for the constantly changing environment of the Android marketplace.
90 Percent Vulnerability ?
For example, security analysts now suggest that as of the first week of June, this year, approximately 90 percent of all Android -powered devices have not yet updated to the latest OS version—Marshmallow. These devices are all running Android Lollipop (version 5.1) or earlier (like Jelly Bean, etc) and they are all vulnerable to a new family of malware known simply as “Godless”.
Now, the Godless malware family is designed specifically to exploit code root vulnerabilities that will allow the bug to take control of the Android device using “elevated permissions.” Obviously, any Android fan understands this process as “rooting” but this technique is typically used by experienced programmers who want to install their own apps, but require higher-level permissions in order to gain access to certain functions that are typically restricted to the average user.
A rooting app, like Godless, will take control of your device to let you make the changes you want. However, in the case of malware, like Godless, the majority of average users—who have little to no experience in software development—are not very likely to determine something is wrong. In the meantime, the malware can receive remote instructions from the programmer to download apps and install them on the device without anyone being the wiser. This, of course, can affect performance but might open a floodgate of other unwanted apps and, of course, probably also undesired ads.
