Recently, Google released new security measures for its pixel smartphones named Binary Transparency, which will improve the security and safety of the internet for users. And now, ahead of the Android 14 stable release, which is expected to launch later this month, Google has shared new security enhancements to protect users and devices better.
Over the years, Google has been beefing up its security with its operating system to keep users safe. With each new release, the US tech giant has introduced a host of new features that protect users from obvious malicious activities and areas where users may not have much control, such as cellular networks.
In a recent development, Google is now introducing new security for Android in Android 14 with “advanced cellular security mitigations” to protect users from potential attacks on less secure 2G networks.
According to the blog post, Android 14 is the first mobile operating system to provide advanced cellular security mitigations for consumers and enterprises. It introduces support for IT administrators to turn off 2G support in their managed device fleets and a feature that turns off support for zero-cypher cellular connectivity.
In addition, 2G security enterprise controls in Android 14 will enable our customers to configure mobile connectivity according to their risk models, protecting their managed devices from 2G traffic interception, man-in-the-middle attacks, and other 2G-based.
Starting with Android 14, enterprise customers and government agencies that manage devices using the Android operating system will be able to restrict a device’s ability to downgrade to 2G connectivity. Plus, Android offers robust management controls for connectivity security capabilities, including the ability to turn off data signalling over WiFi, Bluetooth, and even USB.
Notably, Android 14 also tackles the risk of cellular null cyphers. However, all IP-based user traffic is protected, and E2EE by the Android platform and cellular networks expose circuit-switched voice and SMS traffic. Both specific traffic types are strictly protected only by the cellular link layer cypher, controlled entirely by the network without user transparency.
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