Google has announced today that it is currently fixing an Android security flaw that was brought to the public’s attention last week by German researchers.
The group explained on Friday that some Google account authentication tokens were apparently being sent OTA unencrypted, leaving users with their data freely available if they were on public Wi-Fi.
Hackers using simple software could steal account info for Google Calendar, Contacts and Picasa accounts.
Users with Android 2.3.4 are free of the issue, but 98.4 percent of Android devices run Android 2.3.3 or lower, making the fix useless for the vast majority.
Google has begun rolling out the server-side patch this week for Android 1.5 - 2.3.3, and it will be completed by the end of the week.
Says Google, via CW:
Today we’re starting to roll out a fix which addresses a potential security flaw that could, under certain circumstances, allow a third party access to data available in calendar and contacts. This fix requires no action from users and will roll out globally over the next few days.
Result for: german research
A group of scientists have developed a new audio technology in the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK). Directional audio coding (DirAC) technique aims to produce the best possible sound for the listener regardless of how many speakers the sound system has and where the speakers are located. TKK has now sold the protecting patents to a German research organization Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
The technique is based on Spatial Impulse Response Rendering (SIRR) and would use for example a remote control to measure and determine what kind of speaker setup surrounds the listener. By transmitting audio and metadata between the microphone, the audio system and the speakers it would produce optimal audio quality for the listener. The technology is said to be suitable for teleconferencing as well.
According to TKK DirAC could become the industry standard. The recordings would hold 1-3 channels of audio and metadata. However, the studies are not yet finished.
TKK and its researchers will continue to work on DirAC with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
