Google's Warning: Worldwide 40% of Smartphones at Risk, Here's What to Do for Safety

Google's Warning: The American company Google has issued a major warning, stating that nearly half of Android smartphone users are at risk of malware and spyware threats. This threat is due to older Android OS versions. This information was reported by Forbes.

Smartphone users are advised to update their smartphones to the latest OS. Let's learn more about this in detail.

The report states that the reason for this threat is the older Android OS versions, specifically those running on Android 13 or older. Older Android OS versions no longer receive security updates, making them most vulnerable. The number of such smartphone users worldwide is more than 1 billion.

Android 16 on so many users' phones

Worldwide, Android 16 is currently present on only 7.5% of devices, according to data from December. 19.3 percent of phones run on Android 15, 17.9 percent on Android 14, and 13.9 percent on Android 13.

Only this percentage of people receive security updates

Reports indicate that 58 percent of smartphones receive security support, while security updates are not available for 40 percent of smartphones.

Advice for users with older smartphones

Smartphone users whose mobile phones run on older OS versions are advised to update to the latest Android OS. They should also regularly update their security support.

Companies provide security updates for 4-5 years

Smartphone manufacturers provide security updates for their handsets for a fixed period. Typically, companies provide this for 4 or 5 years. Samsung and Google Pixel have now announced that they will provide security updates for their handsets for more than 7 years.

What are security updates?

Security updates are released by smartphone manufacturers to protect their devices. These updates fix bugs and vulnerabilities that sometimes inadvertently appear in older operating systems. Hackers can exploit these vulnerabilities and bugs to gain access to the device and steal data. In some cases, the smartphone can even be hacked.

Summary

The number of smartphones running on the Android operating system is very large worldwide. In contrast, Apple's iOS is only used on Apple smartphones, and their number is much smaller. Samsung, Realme, Redmi, Oppo, OnePlus, and other manufacturers produce smartphones using the Android OS and sell them in the global market.