Samsung's Galaxy phones have a serious security risk (updated)
Posted by Niko, on September 25th 2012 9:11 PM (EET)
It has come to our attention, that some of the Galaxy lineup smartphones have a serious security risk. The risk allows a website or simply an SMS to restore your phone to factory settings.The affected phones are the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Beam and the Galaxy Ace. The Galaxy Nexus isn't affected. Other Samsung Touchwiz UI users should be careful, as well.
This security risk is based on the USSD-codes which you can input in the dialer to access multiple phone features.
To protect yourself from these kind of SMSes, turning off the "Service Loading" feature prevents this from happening.
Users might also be tricked into opening a website, that contains this code, through a QR code link or an NFC-tap link. There's no fix available at the moment, so you need to stay alert and not open suspicious QR links.
Users who are running on a non-Samsung framework custom-ROM shouldn't be in danger.
Here's a video demonstrating the event:
Update: GSMArena.com posts that Samsung says that the problem has already been addressed for the SIII via an OTA update. Make sure you update your phone as soon as possible.
About this author
Niko
I'm Niko (also known as Niksuski), a 21 year old student and I live in Finland. Nikosite is my project, and the first extensive website project I have had. I'm really interested in everything mobile tech related, and a huge Android fan.
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