Android smartphones face data breach threat

A trio of researchers at Ulm University in Germany found that it was “quite easy” for hackers to intercept data from Google’s photo-sharing, calendar and contacts applications, as well as potentially other Google services such as Gmail, using a flaw that affects 99 per cent of all Android devices.

The revelation will again put the spotlight on Google’s approach to security with its mobile operating system, which is the most popular software for smartphones in the world. The security flaw has been fixed in Android’s 2.3.4 version of its operating softwares and beyond.

In March, Google was forced to remove more than 50 rogue applications, which could have stolen data or sent costly messages, from tens of thousands of Android devices.

The attack works when unsecured wireless access points that imitate public WiFi hot spots that the phone has accessed before – such as a coffee shop chain – capture an authentication token.

That token can then be used by attackers to access and modify personal data in Picasa, Google’s photo site, Calendar and Contacts. Business customers using Google apps on Android are not affected by the weakness because all traffic is encrypted by default.