LG commits to monthly Android security updates
In the wake of the Stagefright bug, LG has reportedly committed to posting monthly security updates to protect its Android smartphones. It's the third company in two days to pledge to ensure that its devices aren't left wide open for hackers, since Google and Samsung both said the same yesterday. The announcement was reported by Wired, who quotes an unnamed LG source as saying that it'll provide the updates on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, these updates will still have to be passed fit for purpose by the carriers, who frequently drag their feet when it comes to getting them out to consumers.
The problem, as both Motherboard and MIT Technology Review have recently pointed out, is based around how Android works. Rather than being a product that's worked on in a lab at Google and then pushed out to all users, the operating system is forked, tweaked and altered by every company, and carrier, that uses it. That means that, instead of one version of the software, there are hundreds of minor variations, which makes universal security patches all that more difficult to distribute. That's why the Stagefright bug is so terrifying, since it threatens anything up to 950 million devices with little chance of a one-size-fits-all solution being created. We've reached out to LG so that we can confirm that it will commit to monthly security updates, but have not had a reply by the time of publication.
Update: LG has reached out with the following statement:
"LG is committed to bringing its customers the utmost in device security. Toward that goal, we are now starting to roll out updates for in-market LG devices potentially vulnerable to Stagefright. As an additional step, LG will be providing security updates on a monthly basis which carriers will then be able to make available to customers immediately. We believe these important steps will demonstrate to LG customers that security is our highest priority."
