Don't expect HTC to promise monthly security updates says company executive Jason Mackenzie

With rival smartphone manufacturers like LG and Samsung promising monthly security updates along with Google (for its Nexus devices), HTC Americas president Jason Mackenzie sent out a tweet yesterday that called such updates "unrealistic." The monthly updates were a response to the Stagefright vulnerability, which first started getting noticed in July. At its peak, Stagefright left 95% of Android handsets open to attack. Hackers could use the exploit to take control of the microphone and the cameras on an Android phone, and grab personal information, all from a malicious MMS.

Early in August, Samsung announced its intentions to send out monthly security updates to Android phones. One week later, Google said that it too would send out such updates each month. Google also included a feature on Android 6.0 that will show you when your handset last downloaded and installed a security update.

Over the weekend, Mackenzie was tag-teamed on Twitter by some curious smartphone owners wondering why Samsung and LG promised to send out these security updates monthly, while HTC did not make such a commitment. Mackenzie replied that the carriers make such a timetable "unrealistic" and that HTC did not want to make an unrealistic promise. Those of you who have had to deal with a long-delayed update can understand exactly where the executive is coming from.

All of this talk about security on Android can only be putting a smile on the face of  BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who late last month confirmed the existence of the company's Android-powered slider, the BlackBerry Priv. The device, which is rumored to be released next month, will reportedly have a strong focus on security. After all, the name of the handset, Priv, is short for Privacy.


source: @JasonMacHTC via AndroidHeadlines