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Google Throws Microsoft Under Bus, Then Won't Patch Android Flaw

Posted by timothy on from the well-that's-one-way-to-view-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes Last month, Google took the bold steps to release the details of a security vulnerability ahead of Microsoft. Microsoft responded and said that there was a patch in works which was set to be released two days after Google went live with the details. Microsoft accuses Google for refusing to wait an extra 48 hours so that the patch would have been released along with the details of the exploit. Now, let's see what is happening on the Google side of software development. Recently, an exploit has been uncovered in the WebView component of Android 4.3 — estimated to cover roughly 60% of Android install base — and Google is saying that they will not patch the flaw. Google's only reasoning seems to be that they are not fixing vulnerabilities in 4.3 (introduced in June 2012) anymore, as they have moved focus to newer releases. It would appear that over 930 million Android phones in use are out of official Google security patch support.

3 of 629 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Makes sense. by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1, Troll

    Not being able to patch an older system that could be patched, that makes sense to you?

    I'll never understand the logic of Android fanboys. At this point I'll pick iOS and Windows over Android any time.

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  2. Re:Makes sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    iOS isn't really any better when it comes to patching old devices. Once the poor, poor, tech company responsible for deploying the OS in the first place decides to stop supporting it, you're SOL. The only news here is that Google doesn't even care to pretend they live by the "do no evil" motto anymore. Not that it was really news.

  3. Re: Makes sense. by N1AK · · Score: 1, Troll

    this is more like MS not patching Windows 2012, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and so on. 2012 is so recently, that is scary.

    No it isn't. Aside from the obvious fact that smartphones during that period have tended to have shorter active lifespans than PCs or Laptops, Google don't require you to pay for major releases. The Galaxy S3 was released in 2008 (before Windows 7 was released) yet can be upgraded to 4.4.2 (admittedly limited by carriers pushing updates out for some models) which was released a year after Windows 8.1 came out. If Microsoft was giving people free upgrades to the latest OS for 7 years then maybe you'd have something to shame Google for.