In its latest ‘Android Security: Year in Review’ report, Google has honoured the BlackBerry Priv as one of the most secure Android devices on the market.
The BlackBerry Priv is among a group of devices that achieved an update rate of 60 percent to 95 percent for its monthly security releases, including the Pixel devices; Nexus 5, 6, 5X and 6P; OnePlus and OnePlus 3; Samsung Galaxy S7; Asus Zenfone 3; LG V20 and Sony Xperia X Compact.
“We are honored that PRIV was included in Google’s Android Security: 2016 Year in Review, and we take this as a signal that we’re living up to our promise to deliver the world’s most secure Android software platform,” stated BlackBerry senior vice-president and general manager of the mobility solutions division Alex Thurber in a blog post on Inside BlackBerry, adding: “It’s especially gratifying that the Priv was named among the market’s security leaders for the second year in a row.”
BlackBerry was also named as one of four manufacturers (the others being LG, Samsung and OnePlus) that deliver Android security updates to flagship devices on the same day that Google updates its own smartphone — at least for unlocked devices bought directly from BlackBerry or its manufacturing partners. Thurber acknowledged that carriers sometimes hold updates “for various reasons.”
Additionally, the report lauds BlackBerry for deploying a fix to a zero day vulnerability known as “Dirty Cow” — which was publicly disclosed on October 19th, 2016 — in time for the November 2016 security update.
Google wrote in its report that in 2016, Android security updates addressed 655 vulnerabilities, 133 of which were critical in severity, 365 high, 154 moderate and three low — representing a more than 275% increase from 2015.
Source: BlackBerry, Google
