Android (operating system): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:40, 9 September 2013

Revision as of 11:24, 9 September 2013

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{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox OS

| name = Android

| titlelogo = [[File:Android robot.svg|100px]]<br />[[File:Android.svg|200px]]

| logo caption = <!-- Something more informative that the =obvious <br"The />[[File:Android robot.svg|100px]]<brlogo" /-->[[File:Android.svg|200px]]

| logoscreenshot caption = The [[File:Android logo4.3 Jelly Bean on Nexus.png|200px]]

| screenshot = <br />[[File:Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on Nexus.png|200px]]

| caption = Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) on Samsung [[Galaxy Nexus]]

| developer = [[Google]]<br />[[Open Handset Alliance]]<br />Android Open Source Project

| family = [[Unix-like]]

| working state = Current

| source model = [[Open-source software|Open source]]<ref name="philosophy">{{cite web |url=http://source.android.com/about/philosophy.html |title=Philosophy and Goals |work=Android Open Source Project |publisher=Google |accessdate=2012-04-21}}</ref> (with proprietary drivers)

| released = {{start date|2008|9|23}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2008/09/announcing-android-10-sdk-release-1.html|title=Announcing the Android 1.0 SDK, release 1 |date=September 9, 2008 |accessdate=September 21, 2012}}</ref>

| latest release version = [[Android version history|4.3 ''Jelly Bean'']]

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The open-source nature of Android allows security contractors to take existing devices and adapt them for highly secure uses. For example Samsung has worked with General Dynamics through their [[Open Kernel Labs]] acquisition to rebuild ''Jelly Bean'' on top of their hardened microvisor for the "Knox" project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/28/general_dynamics/ |title=Air-to-ground rocket men flog top-secret mobe-crypto to Brad in accounts |publisher=The Register |date=2013-02-28 |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/technology/samsung-armors-android-to-take-on-blackberry.html "Samsung Armors Android to Take On BlackBerry."]</ref>

In July 2013, Google confirmed that the United States's [[National Security Agency]] provided some of the code currently in use in Android.<ref>{{cite web | author = Mark Milian | url = http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-03/security-enhanced-android-nsa-edition |title=Security-Enhanced Android: NSA Edition | publisher=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |date=July 3, 2013 | accessdate = September 8, 2013}}</ref> The NSA says the code is intended to enhance security against hackers and marketers, but Google would not confirm whether it also aids the NSA in monitoring the global internet. The news came amid revelations of Google's participation in the [[PRISM surveillance program]],<ref>{{cite web | author = [[Barton Gellman|Gellman, Barton]]; [[Laura Poitras|Poitras, Laura]] | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html |title=US Intelligence Mining Data from Nine U.S. Internet Companies in Broad Secret Program | publisher=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 6, 2013 | accessdate = September 8, 2013}}</ref> and NSA efforts to routinely work with telecommunications, software, and security companies to subvert the code and security in their own commercial products.<ref>{{cite web | author = [[James Ball|Ball, James]]; [[Julian Borger|Borger, Julian]]; [[Glenn Greenwald|Greenwald, Glenn]] | url = http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security |title=Revealed: how US and UK spy agencies defeat internet privacy and security | publisher=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 5, 2013 | accessdate = September 8, 2013}}</ref>

As part of the broader [[2013 mass surveillance disclosures]] it was revealed in September 2013 that the American and British intelligence agencies, the NSA and [[Government Communications Headquarters]] (GCHQ) respectively, have access to the user data in iPhones, Blackberries, and Android phones. They are able to read almost all smartphone information, including SMS, ___location, emails, and notes. <ref name=spiegel20130907>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-920971.html|title= Privacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data|date=September 7, 2013|accessdate=September 7, 2013|author=Staff}}</ref>