It's been nearly 20 years since Google revealed Android, which the company described as the first "truly open" mobile operating system, setting Google-powered phones apart from the iPhone's aggressively managed experience. Over time, though, Android has become more aligned with Apple's approach. For the moment, users still have the final say in what software runs on their increasingly locked-down smartphones. Later this year, though, Google plans to seriously curtail that freedom in the name of security.

In the coming weeks, Google will officially debut Android developer verification, which will require app makers outside the Play Store to register with their real names and pay a fee to Google. Failure to do so will block their apps from installation (sometimes called sideloading) on virtually all Android devices. Google says this is a necessary evolution of the platform's security model, but upending the status quo could push developers away from Android and risk the privacy of those that remain.

This might make your phone a little safer, sure, but it won't stop people from getting scammed. At the same time, it could rob the Android ecosystem of what made it special in the first place.

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Pairing Bluetooth devices can be a pain, but Google Fast Pair makes it almost seamless. Unfortunately, it may also leave your headphones vulnerable to remote hacking. A team of security researchers from Belgium’s KU Leuven University has revealed a vulnerability dubbed WhisperPair that allows an attacker to hijack Fast Pair-enabled devices to spy on the owner.

Fast Pair is widely used, and your device may be vulnerable even if you've never used a Google product. The bug affects more than a dozen devices from 10 manufacturers, including Sony, Nothing, JBL, OnePlus, and Google itself. Google has acknowledged the flaw and notified its partners of the danger, but it's up to these individual companies to create patches for their accessories. A full list of vulnerable devices is available on the project's website.

The researchers say that it takes only a moment to gain control of a vulnerable Fast Pair device (a median of just 10 seconds) at ranges up to 14 meters. That's near the limit of the Bluetooth protocol and far enough that the target wouldn't notice anyone skulking around while they hack headphones.

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Google began offering "dark web reports" a while back, but the company has just announced the feature will be going away very soon. In an email to users of the service, Google says it will stop telling you about dark web data leaks in February. This probably won't negatively impact your security or privacy because, as Google points out in its latest email, there's really nothing you can do about the dark web.

The dark web reports launched in March 2023 as a perk for Google One subscribers. The reports were expanded to general access in 2024. Now, barely a year later, Google has decided it doesn't see the value in this type of alert for users. Dark web reports provide a list of partially redacted user data retrieved from shadowy forums and sites where such information is bought and sold. However, that's all it is—a list.

The dark web consists of so-called hidden services hosted inside the Tor network. You need a special browser or connection tools in order to access Tor hidden services, and its largely anonymous nature has made it a favorite hangout for online criminals. If a company with your personal data has been hacked, that data probably lives somewhere on the dark web.

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Despite being a vast repository of personal information, smartphones used to have little by way of security. That has thankfully changed, but companies like Cellebrite offer law enforcement tools that can bypass security on some devices. The company keeps the specifics quiet, but an anonymous individual recently logged in to a Cellebrite briefing and came away with a list of which of Google's Pixel phones are vulnerable to Cellebrite phone hacking.

This person, who goes by the handle rogueFed, posted screenshots from the recent Microsoft Teams meeting to the GrapheneOS forums (spotted by 404 Media). GrapheneOS is an Android-based operating system that can be installed on select phones, including Pixels. It ships with enhanced security features and no Google services. Because of its popularity among the security-conscious, Cellebrite apparently felt the need to include it in its matrix of Pixel phone support.

The screenshot includes data on the Pixel 6, Pixel 7, Pixel 8, and Pixel 9 family. It does not list the Pixel 10 series, which launched just a few months ago. The phone support is split up into three different conditions: before first unlock, after first unlock, and unlocked. The before first unlock (BFU) state means the phone has not been unlocked since restarting, so all data is encrypted. This is traditionally the most secure state for a phone. In the after first unlock (AFU) state, data extraction is easier. And naturally, an unlocked phone is open season on your data.

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As we careen toward a future in which Google has final say over what apps you can run, the company has sought to assuage the community's fears with a blog post and a casual "backstage" video. Google has said again and again since announcing the change that sideloading isn't going anywhere, but it's definitely not going to be as easy. The new information confirms app installs will be more reliant on the cloud, and devs can expect new fees, but there will be an escape hatch for hobbyists.

Confirming app verification status will be the job of a new system component called the Android Developer Verifier, which will be rolled out to devices in the next major release of Android 16. Google explains that phones must ensure each app has a package name and signing keys that have been registered with Google at the time of installation. This process may break the popular FOSS storefront F-Droid.

It would be impossible for your phone to carry a database of all verified apps, so this process may require Internet access. Google plans to have a local cache of the most common sideloaded apps on devices, but for anything else, an Internet connection is required. Google suggests alternative app stores will be able to use a pre-auth token to bypass network calls, but it's still deciding how that will work.

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The sky is falling, and Gmail has supposedly been hacked to bits by malicious parties unknown. Or has it? Reports circulated last week claiming that Gmail was the subject of a major data breach, citing a series of warnings Google has distributed and increasing reports of phishing attacks. The hysteria was short-lived, though. In a brief post on its official blog, Google says that Gmail's security is "strong and effective," and reports to the contrary are mistaken.

This story seems to have developed due to a random confluence of security events. Google experienced a Gmail data breach in June, but the attack was limited to the company's corporate Salesforce server. The hacker was able to access publicly available information like business names and contact details, but no private information was compromised.

Over the following weeks, Google alerted Gmail users to an increase in phishing attacks in July and August. It didn't offer many details, but many believed the spike in phishing was related to the corporate server breach. Indeed, more people are talking about hacking attempts on social media right now. This led to the claim that Gmail's entire user base of 2.5 billion people was about to be hacked at any moment, with some reports advising everyone to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication. While that's generally good security advice, Google says the truth is much less dramatic.

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Last year was big for zero-day exploits, security threats that appear in the wild before vendors have a chance to develop patches. Through its sprawling network of services and research initiatives, Google is the first to spot many of these threats. In a new report from the Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), the company reveals it detected 75 zero-day exploits in 2024, which is a bit lower than the previous year. Unsurprisingly, a sizable chunk of them was the work of state-sponsored hackers.

According to Google, zero-day exploits are becoming increasingly easy for threat actors to develop and procure, which has led to more sophisticated attacks. While end-user devices are still regularly targeted, GTIG notes that the trend over the past few years has been for these vulnerabilities to target enterprise systems and security infrastructure. There were 98 zero-days detected in 2023 versus 75 in 2024, but Google says the overall trend in enterprise threats is increasing.

That's not to say the products you use every day are safe from sneaky hacks—a slim majority of GTIG's 2024 zero-day threats still targeted users. In fact, Google says hackers were even more interested in certain platforms last year compared to the year before.

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A silent update rolling out to virtually all Android devices will make your phone more secure, and all you have to do is not touch it for a few days. The new feature implements auto-restart of a locked device, which will make your personal data harder to extract. It's coming as part of a Google Play Services update, though, so there's nothing you can do to speed along the process.

Google is preparing to release a new update to Play Services (v25.14), which brings a raft of tweaks and improvements. First spotted by 9to5Google, the update was officially released on April 14, but as with all Play Services updates, it could take a week or more to reach all devices. When 25.14 arrives, Android devices will see a few minor improvements, including prettier settings screens, improved connection with cars and watches, and content previews when using Quick Share.

Most importantly, Play Services 25.14 adds a feature that Google describes thusly: "With this feature, your device automatically restarts if locked for 3 consecutive days."

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