If you’re one of the over 2.8 billion people who use Android devices, you should listen up. Experts say you should update your smartphone immediately after the discovery of a potentially dangerous security flaw. The glitch makes it easy for almost anyone to bypass the lock screen on your device to access its content.
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Easy-peasy
Security researcher, David Schütz discovered the bug when he was managed to bypass the lock screen on his Google Pixel device after accidentally locking himself out. The steps he took to get back into his phone were so easy that almost anyone could figure it out.
When he was locked out of his phone after failing on three occasions to input the right PIN, he was asked for the SIM’s PUK code which can be found on the packaging of any SIM card. He keyed in the code and was asked to set a new PIN. Once that was done, he noticed that the fingerprint icon was displayed instead of the lock icon. The phone then accepted his fingerprint, but he couldn’t seem to get past the ‘Pixel is starting...’ message, according to PC Mag.
‘Disturbingly weird’
Intrigued, he decided to tinker with the device a bit and found that following a sequence of steps, including hot-swapping the SIM tray, it was possible to bypass the lock screen completely. Schütz said:
This was disturbingly weird. My hands started to shake at this point.
So far, his investigations show that this hack works on other models of Google Pixel, although it is unclear if other Android devices are affected as well. Google was notified and three months later, a fix was rolled out. It’s why you should update your device to the latest version of the operating system to avoid being hacked.
Sources used:
The Sun: Millions of Android owners warned anyone can bypass your lock screen – update your phone now
PC Mag Middle East: Google Pays $70,000 Reward for Simple Android Lock Screen Bypass Bug
