1 page.title=Android Security FAQ 2 parent.title=FAQs, Tips, and How-to 3 parent.link=index.html 4 @jd:body 5 6 <ul> 7 <li><a href="#secure">Is Android Secure?</a></li> 8 <li><a href="#issue">I think I found a security flaw. How do I report 9 it?</a></li> 10 <li><a href="#informed">How can I stay informed about Android security?</a></li> 11 <li><a href="#use">How do I securely use my Android phone?</a></li> 12 <li><a href="#malware">I think I found malicious software being distributed 13 for Android. How can I help?</a></li> 14 <li><a href="#fixes">How will Android-powered devices receive security fixes?</a> 15 </li> 16 <li><a href="#directfix">Can I get a fix directly from the Android Platform 17 Project?</a></li> 18 </ul> 19 20 21 <a name="secure" id="secure"></a><h2>Is Android secure?</h2> 22 23 <p>The security and privacy of our users' data is of primary importance to the 24 Android Open Source Project. We are dedicated to building and maintaining one 25 of the most secure mobile platforms available while still fulfilling our goal 26 of opening the mobile device space to innovation and competition.</p> 27 28 <p> A comprehensive overview of the <a 29 href="http://source.android.com/tech/security/index.html">Android 30 security model and Android security processes</a> is provided in the Android 31 Open Source Project Website.</p> 32 33 <p>Application developers play an important part in the security of Android. 34 The Android Platform provides developers with a rich <a 35 href="http://code.google.com/android/devel/security.html">security model</a> 36 that to request the capabilities, or access, needed by their 37 application and to define new capabilities that other applications can request. 38 The Android user can choose to grant or deny an application's request for 39 certain capabilities on the handset.</p> 40 41 <p>We have made great efforts to secure the Android platform, but it is 42 inevitable that security bugs will be found in any system of this complexity. 43 Therefore, the Android team works hard to find new bugs internally and responds 44 quickly and professionally to vulnerability reports from external researchers. 45 </p> 46 47 48 <a name="issue" id="issue"></a><h2>I think I found a security flaw. How do I 49 report it?</h2> 50 51 <p>You can reach the Android security team at <a 52 href="mailto:security (a] android.com">security (a] android.com</a>. If you like, you 53 can protect your message using our <a 54 href="http://code.google.com/android/security_at_android_dot_com.txt">PGP 55 key</a>.</p> 56 57 <p>We appreciate researchers practicing responsible disclosure by emailing us 58 with a detailed summary of the issue and keeping the issue confidential while 59 users are at risk. In return, we will make sure to keep the researcher informed 60 of our progress in issuing a fix. </p> 61 62 63 <a name="informed" id="informed"></a><h2>How can I stay informed about Android security?</h2> 64 65 <p>For general discussion of Android platform security, or how to use 66 security features in your Android application, please subscribe to <a 67 href="http://groups.google.com/group/android-security-discuss">android-security-discuss</a>. 68 </p> 69 70 71 <a name="use" id="use"></a><h2>How do I securely use my Android phone?</h2> 72 73 <p>Android was designed so that you can safely use your phone without making 74 any changes to the device or installing any special software. Android applications 75 run in an Application Sandbox that limits access to sensitive information or data 76 with the users permission.</p> 77 78 <p>To fully benefit from the security protections in Android, it is important that 79 users only download and install software from known sources.</p> 80 81 <p>As an open platform, Android allows users to visit any website and load 82 software from any developer onto a device. As with a home PC, the user must be 83 aware of who is providing the software they are downloading and must decide 84 whether they want to grant the application the capabilities it requests. 85 This decision can be informed by the user's judgment of the software 86 developer's trustworthiness, and where the software came from.</p> 87 88 89 <a name="malware" id="malware"></a><h2>I think I found malicious software being 90 distributed for Android. How can I help?</h2> 91 92 <p>Like any other platform, it will be possible for unethical developers 93 to create malicious software, known as <a 94 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware">malware</a>, for Android. If you 95 think somebody is trying to spread malware, please let us know at <a 96 href="mailto:security (a] android.com">security (a] android.com</a>. Please include as 97 much detail about the application as possible, with the location it is 98 being distributed from and why you suspect it of being malicious software.</p> 99 100 <p>The term <i>malicious software</i> is subjective, and we cannot make an 101 exhaustive definition. Some examples of what the Android Security Team believes 102 to be malicious software is any application that: 103 <ul> 104 <li>uses a bug or security vulnerability to gain permissions that have not 105 been granted by the user</li> 106 <li>shows the user unsolicited messages (especially messages urging the 107 user to buy something);</li> 108 <li>resists (or attempts to resist) the user's effort to uninstall it;</li> 109 <li>attempts to automatically spread itself to other devices;</li> 110 <li>hides its files and/or processes;</li> 111 <li>discloses the user's private information to a third party, without the 112 user's knowledge and consent;</li> 113 <li>destroys the user's data (or the device itself) without the user's 114 knowledge and consent;</li> 115 <li>impersonates the user (such as by sending email or buying things from a 116 web store) without the user's knowledge and consent; or</li> 117 <li>otherwise degrades the user's experience with the device.</li> 118 </ul> 119 </p> 120 121 122 <a name="fixes" id="fixes"></a><h2>How do Android-powered devices receive security 123 fixes?</h2> 124 125 <p>The manufacturer of each device is responsible for distributing software 126 upgrades for it, including security fixes. Many devices will update themselves 127 automatically with software downloaded "over the air", while some devices 128 require the user to upgrade them manually.</p> 129 130 <p>Google provides software updates for a number of Android devices, including 131 the <a href="http://www.google.com/nexus">Nexus</a> 132 series of devices, using an "over the air" (OTA) update. These updates may include 133 security fixes as well as new features.</p> 134 135 <a name="directfix" id="directfix"></a><h2>Can I get a fix directly from the 136 Android Platform Project?</h2> 137 138 <p>Android is a mobile platform that is released as open source and 139 available for free use by anybody. This means that there are many 140 Android-based products available to consumers, and most of them are created 141 without the knowledge or participation of the Android Open Source Project. Like 142 the maintainers of other open source projects, we cannot build and release 143 patches for the entire ecosystem of products using Android. Instead, we will 144 work diligently to find and fix flaws as quickly as possible and to distribute 145 those fixes to the manufacturers of the products through the open source project.</p> 146 147 <p>If you are making an Android-powered device and would like to know how you can 148 properly support your customers by keeping abreast of software updates, please 149 contact us at <a 150 href="mailto:info (a] openhandsetalliance.com">info (a] openhandsetalliance.com</a>.</p> 151
