87 Percent Of Android Devices Vulnerable To Exploits Due To Lax Patching

If you've been paying any attention to the security realm over the past few years, you're probably well aware that Google's Android OS has quite a number of issues and caveats surrounding it. It comes with the territory of the OS being placed into the hands of any vendor that produces an Android device - it becomes their responsibility to update, not Google's. Obviously, that's going to be problematic where patches are concerned.

After the Stagefright MMS bug hit the world a few months ago, the need for better Android security really hit the limelight. Not long after, some companies, such as Samsung, began promising to get better about things. Ultimately, though, it seems like Google itself has to begin enforcing proper update measures, because when a phone that's a mere two-years-old has a permanent critical vulnerability, that's bad.

Given the reality of Android's reach and the sheer number of vendors that develop around it, it'll likely strike no one as a surprise to learn that most Android devices out there are currently vulnerable. According to a new report, that number is 87%. 

In the graph above, we can see that things are getting worse over time, thanks to the fact that more and more Android devices are hitting the market. It's not just smartphones; Android is everywhere. It can be in our televisions, and even our watches.

Admittedly, this 87% number was based on a mere 20,000 devices that were scanned, but it's not a hard number to believe. Because of this problem, it stands to reason that vendors who commit themselves to making sure its users are going to be secure for at least a few years will be more attractive than those that simply ignore the problem.