{"id":20765,"date":"2022-12-03T16:20:29","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T16:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/03\/android-phones-are-now-more-secure-thanks-to-rust\/"},"modified":"2022-12-03T16:20:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T16:20:29","slug":"android-phones-are-now-more-secure-thanks-to-rust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/03\/android-phones-are-now-more-secure-thanks-to-rust\/","title":{"rendered":"Android Phones Are Now More Secure, Thanks to Rust"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Google
Joe Fedewa \/ How-To Geek<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just like any widely-used software, security vulnerabilities are constantly discovered (and later patched) in Android all the time. Thankfully, one type of security problem is on the decline, thanks to a switch in programming languages.<\/p>\n

Google published a blog post on its security blog this week, explaining that memory safety<\/a> vulnerabilities \u2014 where buffer overflows and other similar problems in code can allow other software to break out of sandboxes and cause problems \u2014 are on the decline in Android phones. The company said, \u201cwe see that the number of memory safety vulnerabilities have dropped considerably over the past few years\/releases. From 2019 to 2022 the annual number of memory safety vulnerabilities dropped from 223 down to 85.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, why the drop in security problems? Google was quick to note that \u201ccorrelation doesn\u2019t necessarily mean causation,\u201d but the likely culprit is the decision to write much of Android\u2019s newer code in the Rust programming language<\/a>, rather than older languages like C or C++. Rust enforces memory safety, drastically reducing the possibility of security problems related to memory.<\/p>\n

\"Graph
Google<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Google revealed in the blog post, \u201cFrom 2019 to 2022 it has dropped from 76% down to 35% of Android\u2019s total vulnerabilities. 2022 is the first year where memory safety vulnerabilities do not represent a majority of Android\u2019s vulnerabilities.\u201d Rust is still not most of the new code added each year, but it the percentage of Rust code is gradually increasing. Google also noted that, so far, zero security problems have been discovered in Android\u2019s Rust code.<\/p>\n

There are still many<\/em> other possible security problems outside of memory safety issues, but it seems like Android phones and tablets are safer because of the transition to Rust. That\u2019s certainly worth celebrating.<\/p>\n

Source: Google Security Blog<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n\n<\/div>\n