A research carried out by mobile security firm Lookout states that over 99% of government employees in United States are using outdated android OS loaded smart phones. And because of the pandemic, most of them are accessing their office apps on their mobile devices that is making them fall prey to several vulnerabilities often exploited by hackers.
As per the statistics revealed by Lookout, the Android 11 version that has over 50 vulnerabilities is being used by less than 0.08% of government employees in North America. Followed by Android OS 10 that is being used by 38.30% of government devices that have over 266 OS vulnerabilities.
Lookout states that the percentage of employees using Android 9 version is 28.0% and this OS is reportedly having 173 vulnerabilities. And Android version 8 is being used by 22.80% of employees having 636 vulnerabilities.
The highlight of the research is that most phones are seen hosting serious malicious apps that are seen sending data to servers operating in foreign countries, having access to device file systems, and accessing more hardware that actually is permitted to.
In contrast to what is being reported about Android, those using Apple iOS loaded devices in the government sector are said to be showing a higher adoption rate of the latest version, with a vast 67.8% are seen using the iOS 14.
Therefore, the security firm is not asking the government employees to switch to Apple iOS loaded devices. But it is urging them to keep their mobiles loaded with the latest OS version.
Note- From past two years, those using Android 9 loaded devices are getting regular updates of the latest OS version free of cost. However, not all phone manufacturers are eligible for such an upgrade. As only Samsung, LG, Sony, Asus, Motorola and Xiaomi phones are seen getting the free upgrade as they have become premium partners to Google in recent times.
