Is your Android phone flawed? Millions sold devices that could put them at serious risk
Android smartphone owners are being warned that their new devices may put them at serious risk from cyber attacks and malicious threats. That’s the latest news from the consumer experts at Which? who say devices are being sold on long-term contracts that will no longer get vital updates to keep them safe. Most Android manufacturers offer two or three years of Android upgrades but networks are selling phones that may not get these vital patches by the time a customer’s deal comes to an end.
The problem is so bad that Which? says around 48 per cent of phones available could lose security support before the end of the contract period.
O2 is one of the networks that caused the most concern as it offers deals that last for 36 months.
However, it’s not just O2 with other mobile phone retailers also selling a whole host of devices that could lose security support before contracts ended. In addition to O2, the proportion of contract phones on sale where there were similar problems were Carphone Warehouse (52%), Mobiles.co.uk (50%), Vodafone (50%), Three (40%), Mobile Phones Direct (38%) and EE (33%).
To make matters worse, Which? researchers say that they came across a number of popular handsets that are due to run out of support less than a year into the contract.
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