Within a week after Google launched an investigation on the Android platform that Samsung is using for its Galaxy S6 Edge device and other smartphone models, the tech giant discovered a total of 11 "high impact" security flaws with the South Korean firm's own version of the operating system.
Google noted that these flaws could be exploited by hackers to gain access to the device and steal personal information.
The investigation was spearheaded by Project Zero, a security team working under Google. For some time now, Google has focused its attention on identifying any flaws affecting its Android operating system. And recently, the company has turned its attention to consumer electronics manufacturers that rely on Android.
During Project Zero's analysis on Samsung devices, the team discovered 11 bugs that could threaten the overall security of the operating system.
According to a report by the BBC, one of these bugs could allow hackers to steal the email messages sent by their victims. They could also exploit another issue which would allow them to control the settings of the device's photo-viewing app through an encoded message.
Fortunately, shortly after Project Zero notified Samsung about these flaws, majority of them were immediately fixed through a firmware update.
"The majority of these issues were fixed on the device we tested via an over-the-air update within 90 days, though three lower severity issues remain unfixed," Natalie Silvanovich of Project Zero said in a blog post.
"It is promising that the highest severity issues were fixed and updated on-device in a reasonable timeframe," she added.
Samsung assured its users that it is currently working on fixing the remaining issues through an upcoming patch. The company noted that the update is scheduled to be release sometime this month.
"In our first security update, we were able to provide solutions to eight of the more critical issues that were brought to our attention by Google as part of their 90-day reporting policy," a spokesperson from the company said according to The Guardian. "The remaining three issues will be included as part of our November security update which will be rolling out over the next couple of weeks."
Google's crackdown on bugs affecting the Android system comes months after security analysts discovered a major vulnerability in the operating system's security. According to experts, hackers could gain access to devices by exploiting an Android tool known as Stagefright, which automatically plays multimedia formats.
By sending a malware-infected MMS message to a potential victim's device, the security experts said hackers can control certain operations of the handset.
