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