Android, the most popular operating system for smartphones (most vulnerable to the security threats and issues though), has been made more secure in its latest version. Google, in its official blog post, has said that the latest version- the Android 5.0 Lollipop is the most secure version of Android OS yet. The facility to add encryption by default, along with a variety of easy-to-use ways to lock and unlock the phone and a more secure foundation to help protect devices against current threats is what has made the version most secure till date.
Upon your first boot of the Android 5.0 Lollipop, you will have a unique key created, which will make the whole system’s data to encrypt by default. The largest difference between Lollipop and earlier versions of Android is the SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) kernel security module. This runs down to the core of the OS, and is required for all applications running on your smart device. Whenever you boot your device, SELinux continuously audits and monitors the system, which will allow you to go about your day without needing to worry about rogue applications. Though this feature was already there since the Android 4.2.2 JellyBean version, it was just opt-in, and is now switched on by default for everyone.
The ‘smart device unlocking’ is the new feature of this new version of Android, which will have you unlocked your phone in a much easy way. It is now possible to unlock your Android smartphone via Bluetooth pairing or NFC so you can get back to using your device faster than ever. This Smart Lock feature means that it is possible to pair a phone or tablet with a wearable device, or even your car, so it will automatically unlock when needed. This feature will be of great use to those, who never liked the hassle of unlocking their smartphones via other different ways, such as the pattern/ password or face unlock.
According to the latest research, less than 0.1 percent of the Android smartphones would fall into the prey of security threats whatsoever, which is considerably low. Though it is not guaranteed that the threats or thefts will stop at all with these new security enhancement features, it is good to know that they are keeping up the work to improve the OS, and these are sure to decrease that data further. To know the issues of the future and to work accordingly, Google is also analyzing the user data to figure out what the actual threats for the OS are.
Do you think that this new version is really the most secure version of Android yet? Leave your comments, and you can also check if your phone gets the Android 5.0 Lollipop here.
