Centre issues high-risk warning for Samsung Galaxy phone users, here’s why

The Union government has issued a new advisory for all the Samsung Galaxy mobile phone users, asking them to immediately update their security systems and operating system (OS) to protect themselves from cyber attacks and hacking.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued the high-risk security advisory on December 13, highlighting several security impacts on millions of Samsung Galaxy phones, with both newer and older models.

The category of concern for Samsung phones is “high-risk”, according to the advisory, and owners of these phones need to update their firmware of OS at the earliest.

CERT said in its notification, “Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Samsung products that could allow an attacker to bypass implemented security restrictions, access sensitive information, and execute arbitrary code on the targeted system.”

The agency said that the risk in these phones is due to the improper access control flaw in the SmartManagerCN component of the OS. The solution to this is to apply appropriate security updates in your Samsung Galaxy phones, as mentioned by the company.

What could happen if you don’t follow CERT advisory?

Samsung Galaxy phone owners could be subjected to several risks if they don’t update their security and OS, as directed by CERT-In. Here are some vulnerabilities highlighted in the advisory by the government.

Steal phone’s secret code (SIM PIN)
Shout loud commands to phone (broadcast with elevated privilege)
Peek into private AR Emoji files
Change the clock on the castle gate (Knox Guard lock)
Snoop around phone’s files (access arbitrary files)
Steal important information (sensitive information)
Control the phone like a puppet (execute arbitrary code)
– Take over the whole phone (compromise the targeted system)

Further, Samsung has issued instructions for all the users to make sure that they remain safe from these hacking attempts and how to properly secure their phones.