Major Google banking warning as millions of phones risk being declared ‘unsafe' – and it might block money transfers
MOBILE technology experts are putting out a security alert to millions of smartphone users.
It follows a recent report from Google that has highlighted a potential risk that individuals with an Android could be facing.
1
In the report, it is suggested that there are greater security measures in place on phones running Android 13 or newer, particularly for sensitive apps like those used for banking, finance or secure enterprise.
Additionally, the system of new Android versions may also start requiring devices to have received a security update within the past year to allow them to function.
This includes key functions in operating banking apps, or transferring money, which might get blocked.
Smartphone updates therefore prove to not only be a mechanism for updating features, but also essential fixes for security holes that have been found in Android.
It makes them safer from hackers and other bad actors who hunt for these flaws, who particularly focus on banking and finance apps.
Compromised apps, which may have unpatched vulnerability on older phones, enable cyber-criminals to slip in malware which can steal passwords, watch what you are typing or even make transfers without you knowing.
These updates should therefore also be done regularly.
By Google implementing a requirement for Androids to have recent patches on phones, it is attempting to establish a stronger base line of security for users' sensitive applications and information.
The Phone Arena says: "To be on the safe side, if your Android device is currently running Android 12, Android 12L or lower, updating the OS to Android 13 or newer is one of the most secure things you can do.
"If this is the scenario you are left with, another option is to just go ahead and shell out the money to buy a new Android handset."
Three little-known ways 'unknown tracker alerts' on Android can keep you safe
They report that one-third of active Android phones are susceptible attacks as they have "completely lost support" from Google.
This is with the 200 million users who are out there with a Android 12 or Android 12L powered device, that have reached end-of-life status.
Phone Arena's mobile technology experts also warn that phones stuck on Android 10, 11 or 12 cannot pass new security checks because manufacturers are not even send out fixes for them anymore.
"They aren't just missing recent patches; they stopped getting any security patches quite some time ago, maybe months or even years back."
On top of that is the fact that "millions upon millions of older Android phones are already well past their security update cutoff date."
This comes after another Google report revealed cyber flaws in Android last month.
It found 62 flaws in the Android update for April, with two being actively exploited by hackers in their targeted attacks.
SIGNS YOUR ANDROID PHONE IS INFECTED
Here's Google's official list of signs that you might have malware on your Android phone...
You may have malware on your device if:
Google signed you out of your Google Account to help protect you from malware on your device.
You notice suspicious signs on your device, like pop-up ads that won't go away.
Device symptoms
Alerts about a virus or an infected device
Anti-virus software you use no longer works or runs
A significant decrease in your device's operating speed
A significant, unexpected decrease in storage space on your device
Your device stops working properly or working altogether
Browser symptoms
Alerts about a virus or an infected device
Pop-up ads and new tabs that won't go away
Unwanted Chrome extensions or toolbars keep coming back
Your browsing seems out of your control, and redirects to unfamiliar pages or ads
Your Chrome homepage or search engine keeps changing without your permission
Other symptoms
Your contacts have received emails or social media messages from you, but you didn't send the emails or messages.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Blog
5 hours ago
- Auto Blog
Amazon is selling a ‘very sturdy' $13 car vent phone mount for $6, and shoppers say it's a ‘reliable accessory'
Autoblog aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission. Distracted driving is an easy way to cause an accident and harm those around you. That's why you need to keep yourself focused on the road at all times, without your smartphone in your hands. If you don't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, a car phone mount is exactly what you need to stay safe while driving. Right now, the Cindro Car Vent Phone Mount is on sale at Amazon for just $6. You can save 54% on this compact and easy to use clip that will securely keep your phone at eye level while driving. Cindro Car Vent Phone Mount, $6 (was $13) at Amazon This holder fits most iPhone, Samsung, and Android cell phones that measure between 4 and 7.1 inches. Its thick metal upgraded hook has a plastic layer wrapped around the outside that firmly locks into the vent blades of your vehicle. It is compatible with most car models and can be secured onto both horizontal and vertical vents, without blocking the air conditioning. The mount uses adjustable arms and an adjustable foot to clamp onto your phone with a silicone layer that won't scratch the device. 'Great price, easy to use,' wrote one shopper. 'Life saver! I use it with an Android phone for [the] map function. Easy to install and keeps [the] phone close to be able to easily make changes to route.' A second reviewer said, 'This phone mount is incredibly convenient and has held up well over the past two years. The hook clip ensures it stays securely in place, and it's easy to snap my phone in and take it out. The adjustable design works perfectly for different phone sizes, making it versatile for any device. A great, reliable accessory for anyone who needs a sturdy phone mount in their car!' You can angle your phone however you'd like with the car mount's 360-degree rotatable design, so you can follow directions, listen to your favorite playlists, or talk to text. With a one-touch release, you can install the phone holder in just seconds, making it easy to use during all kinds of trips and adventures. 'A must-have,' wrote a third customer. 'Great for traveling. Easy to install and very sturdy. Ordered twice.' Stay safe on the road with this $6 car phone mount. At such a low price and over 3,900 five-star ratings, you might want to add more than one to your cart. About the Author Victoria Garcia View Profile
Wales Online
5 hours ago
- Wales Online
Upgraded Glastonbury app offers live location sharing and steps counter
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An upgraded official Glastonbury app includes live location sharing and a steps counter for the first time as revellers finalise plans for their arrival at the 900-acre site. Building on last year's revamp, Vodafone's 2025 edition focuses on "keeping friends and family connected" as they join around 210,000 others at the world-famous festival from June 25, the telecoms firm said. The app now offers live location sharing on the Glastonbury map, in a bid to make it easier for festival-goers to find their friends across the site. Step count tracking has been added to the My Highlights post-festival wrap, so attendees can reflect on the ground covered over the five days. In other key updates, the Shared Line-ups feature will now automatically update, helping festival-goers spot who their friends are seeing and allowing them to plan their day accordingly. A map search feature is also designed to make it easier to navigate Worthy Farm and find different cuisines, locate camping and merchandise stands or discover new stages. It also reprises some 2024 features, including personalised recommendations on artists performing at the festival based on listening habits through Spotify, the ability to share line-ups with friends, map pinning to help users find everything from their tent to a favourite food stall and automatic highlighting when artists overlap to help navigate the schedule. In 2024, the app saw 226,215 total downloads, 88.9% from festival-goers attending Worthy Farm and 11.1% from viewers at home. The app is free for iOS and Android. Maria Koutsoudakis, chief brand officer at Vodafone UK, said: "We know the app plays a big role in the festival experience so, this year, we have gone even further to ensure that fans can connect with their friends or family and get as much out of Glastonbury as possible. "Combined with us delivering the most Vodafone network capacity ever on-site, these new features will help festival-goers always be connected, no matter where they are across the site. "We're delighted to be able to use these features to reward both fans and communities across the UK, by tying the new step count feature to our campaign. Social impact is a key part of Glastonbury's ethos as a festival, and we're proud to be able to play our part in that." Vodafone's Connect & Charge tent will also offer free phone charging and WiFi on site.
Scottish Sun
6 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Secret signs a snooper is reading your text messages or even posing as YOU – & clues to show it's happening as you sleep
Watch out for incorrect 'secret codes', a mysterious 'night spike', and a bizarre text with jumbled letters CHAT'S TERRIFYING Secret signs a snooper is reading your text messages or even posing as YOU – & clues to show it's happening as you sleep Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IMAGINE if every text you've ever sent or received was being watched by a mystery stranger – or even someone you know. Well, that might be true. There are loads of ways that sinister spies can have a nose around your private text conversations, so knowing the signs is essential. 9 Special feature shows you every device where your account is signed in Credit: The Sun / Google We reveal the hidden and forgotten settings you need to check. 1 – CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT If you're worried about your texts being spied on, your first port of call should be checking settings in your main messaging accounts. After all, if someone has access to your Apple or Google account, or WhatsApp, then they have unrestricted access to your texts too. That's because they can simply log in as you and read everything you're up to. They can send texts as you, and trawl through your old chats if they want. It's about as nightmarish as it gets. Thankfully, most major tech services will let you see who is logged in on your account and kick them out. And once you do kick the person out, make sure to change your password and add a second layer of verification (like a code sent over text or an authenticator app) in your app settings. For Apple users, you can see a list of the devices where your Apple Account is logged in. Just go to Settings > [Your Name] on your Apple device, then scroll down to see the device. If you don't recognise one, just tap it and then choose Remove From Account. You can also do this on the website. For Google (and Android) users, go to your Google account, then choose Security > Your Devices > Manage All Devices. Once you're there, you can then easily sign out of any unrecognised devices. Deepfakes more 'sophisticated' and dangerous than ever as AI expert warns of six upgrades that let them trick your eyes You'll find other major apps like Facebook and Netflix all have similar settings – so it's worth checking them all every so often. 2 – MYSTERY NIGHT SPIKE You also need to watch out for someone close to you reading your texts in the middle of the night. Maybe you don't have a phone passcode, or it's someone you've shared your code with, or perhaps a nosy partner or family member who has seen you tap it in. First, go into Settings > General > iPhone Storage on your iPhone, and scroll down to the apps. 9 Take a look at the order of your last-used apps – notice anything strange? Credit: The Sun / Apple Change the filter from Size to Last Used Date, which shows apps by when they were most recently used. If you see a chat app there that you know you didn't use recently (or in that order), then someone has been having a peek. Next, go to Settings > Screen Time and turn it on. It's a handy feature to track how much you're using your iPhone – but has a hidden spy-busting benefit too. Head into Settings > Screen Time > See All App & Website Activity, then scroll to Pickups. Now look for First Pickup. This shows when your iPhone was first picked up and opened on a given day, so you can see if someone unlocked it before you'd woken up. And third, go to Settings > Screen Time > See All App & Website Activity, then look for Most Used for today. Now look for an app you're worried is being accessed – like WhatsApp. You can see the exact hour slots for when that app was used, as well as the amount of time spent on it. 9 Go to the Screen Time feature here - it has a hidden spy-busting benefit Credit: The Sun / Apple So if someone opened your WhatsApp at 3am for five minutes, you'll know about it. If you have an Android phone, you can use a similar trick. But instead of Screen Time, you'll be looking for a Google Feature called Digital Wellbeing. You can tap on individual apps in Digital Wellbeing, and then check their Hourly usage – showing you when an app has been active. 3 – UNENCRYPTED CHAT APPS Lots of popular chat apps are totally encrypted. That's true of apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger, and Apple's iMessage. That means when you send a text, it gets all jumbled up into an unreadable mess. And as it flies across the internet, it'll stay jumbled. 9 Look for apps that have "end-to-end encryption" for the best protection Credit: The Sun / WhatsApp / Apple Then, when it reaches your recipient, they have a special key to unlock it. No one else has that key. This key will turn it back into the original text. The idea is that no one can see the message as it's sent over the internet. You ideally want your stored messages encrypted too (this is called end-to-end encryption). For instance, WhatsApp can't read the texts you send in the app, because they're jumbled up. And your internet provider can't read those messages either, because it's just seeing garbled data. This also means if the Government, police, or spies want to snoop on your texts, they can't. They could get a warrant and demand that WhatsApp hand over your messages, but they wouldn't be able to read a thing. The other benefit is that without a backdoor into these texts, hackers can't read them while they're in transit either. They'd have to break into your phone instead, which is difficult. So if you're using non-encrypted chat apps, it puts you in greater danger. DON'T LET ENCRYPTION PUZZLE YOU Here's some advice from The Sun's tech editor Sean Keach... Encryption is easy to forget about. You can't really see it, it's hardly exciting to think about, and if it works properly, then you never have to. But it's important because it prevents some of the most effective hack attacks. Not having your data encrypted is a bit like removing all the curtains and doors from your house. You (probably) wouldn't choose to live in a glass house where every wall was a window without blinds – so don't use apps that are much the same. Not for anything important, anyway. Think about all of the texts you've ever sent. Most of them are probably boring. But some of them will be personal and sensitive: private conversations with loved ones, chats about finances or medical issues, and even login details you've shared with family. Don't leave these in an unlocked box just waiting to be scooped up by a savvy hacker. Using encrypted apps is one of the best defences against cybercrime, and it costs nothing. Picture Credit: Sean Keach For a start, texts sent via old-school SMS aren't encrypted. Popular chat app Discord doesn't encrypt text chats – they're just stored on servers. Most video games won't encrypt text conversations you have either. Make sure you're not having any sensitive conversations unless you're sure that the app you're using is end-to-end encrypted. 4 – SECRET CONTACT CODE This one is a dead giveaway that you're not texting who you think you are. It relates to encryption. Remember: encryption scrambles your texts, and only the recipient with the correct key can unscramble them. Well, hackers have ways of getting around this, so tech giants have come up with a key-verifying system to put your mind at ease. How does it work? Move to here Let's start with iPhone owners, who can use Contact Key Verification in the Messages app. Turn it on by going into Settings > Name > Contact Key Verification > Verification in iMessage. 9 This allows you to check who you're talking to is who they say they are Credit: The Sun / Apple This makes sure that you are speaking to the person with a matching key – and not an impostor intercepting your texts. Once the setting is on, it'll automatically verify the Contact Key when you chat with another person. You'll get an alert if there's an error, which Apple says helps "make sure that even a very sophisticated attacker can't impersonate anyone in the conversation". You can also manually do this by tapping Conversation Details, and then generating a code at the same time to share and compare. WhatsApp has a similar feature called Security Code. Just open a chat with a pal, then tap the contact's name. Now tap on Encryption to view a QR code and a 60-digit number. Next time you're with your pal, you can scan the other person's QR code or just visually compare the 60-digit number. If they match, it's a guarantee that no one is intercepting your texts (or calls!). 9 Your WhatsApp has a special key verification feature to help you make sure that your texts aren't being intercepted Credit: The Sun / WhatsApp 5 – MYSTERIOUS SPY APPS Every so often, take a look at your recently installed apps. Notice anything strange? Anything that shouldn't be there? Any apps that you don't recognise? That's a major red flag. Unexpected apps that you don't recognise are a serious sign that someone is meddling with you. It might have been installed by someone close to you (maybe they grabbed your phone while you slept) or installed on your device as part of a hack attack (perhaps you clicked a dodgy link or opened a rogue email). 9 Make sure to check your phone for any strange apps Credit: Apple 9 Scroll to the far-right on your iPhone to find the App Library – apps may appear here that don't show up on your Home Screen Credit: Apple Either way, once a "spyware" app is on your phone, hackers can run riot with their surveillance. And don't be fooled by how the app appears: it might pretend to be a regular app with a normal function, but it is actually spying on you. So even if it looks like a calculator and works like a calculator, it might still be spying. The only warning sign is that you didn't install it. That's never right. If you ever find any app that you don't recall installing, delete it right away. It could be tracking every single text you send – and potentially much more. 6 – UNEXPLAINED TEXTS This sign can come in two forms. The first is when you receive texts from family members that don't seem to make sense or flow from your previous conversation. Maybe they're having a mad day. But more likely, someone has broken into your text conversations. What this usually means is that someone is texting your friends and family as you – and then deleting the evidence. 9 Watch out for texts with strange letters and symbols Credit: The Sun / Apple So when you look at your phone, there's nothing there. But you're catching it out because your friend or family member has replied to a text – and you've seen it before the snooper has deleted it. Check in with that person immediately (and not over text!) to ask them about what conversations you've had recently. Chances are, they've received texts from you offering them a lucrative money-making deal, asking for a bit of quick cash, or requesting some security info (like a log-in code for an app). It's best to do this over the phone, or better yet in person – so you can make sure your conversation isn't being meddled with. The second sign to watch for is when a text contains strange strings of letters, numbers, and symbols. This might be a symptom of some spyware installed on your phone. Spyware – software built to watch what you're doing – isn't meant to be there, and can result in bugs. KEEP YOUR PHONE UPDATED Here's another tip from The Sun's tech expert Sean Keach... If you want another easy way to protect yourself from dangerous attacks, just update your phone. It sounds simple, but plenty of people forget about it. Tech giants spend loads of money uncovering dangerous loopholes that hackers can exploit to break into your phone. And they release these as security fixes via updates for your phone and apps. If you don't download them, you're leaving your gadgets wide open to snooping. What to watch: If you've got a very old phone, it might no longer be supported by the creator. That means it's no longer getting software updates. So if you're finding yourself unable to update your phone, you may have been cut off. That means you won't get the latest software updates to fix security bugs, leaving you in serious cyber-danger. If that's the case, you'll want to upgrade to a newer model as soon as possible. It's not worth the risk. Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun This can sometimes manifest as strange strings of text (including coded instructions meant for a computer) that don't make sense to your human eyes. It's not a guarantee that you're being spied on, but it's definitely a sign that something is amiss. Just like before, look for and delete any mysterious apps on your device that you don't remember installing, update your phone's software, and reboot it completely (to wipe any 'active' hacks that live in your phone's short-term memory).
