Google sells Android 5.0 Lollipop as one tough candy

Juan Carlos Torres

All the sweetness and prettiness won't be enough to console you if your smartphone or tablet gets stolen, which is why Google has toughened up the latest Android 5.0 to meet the needs of the increasingly insecure mobile device world. Google now highlights the key achievements it made in coating Android Lollipop with a sheet of armor, but the question always is whether it's enough. As always, the answer depends on the user, but Google is at least pushing them in the right direction.

The first line of the defense, at least from physical, external forces, is the lockscreen and, unfortunately, that is also the easiest to break through, at least from an external, physical perspective. It doesn't help that the default is simply a swiping gesture so users are more often than not unaware of less convenient but more secure options, like PIN codes, patterns, or the sometimes inaccurate face shot. To make things even easier, for users, that is, Google is introducing some new screen locking and unlocking mechanisms, using Bluetooth devices or NFC. In, other words, wearables. Usually these methods that rely on another device fall back to PIN or pattern codes, so security is still covered. Except, of course, you'd need to have a smartwatch or something similar for that to make sense.

Android 5.0 is also the first time that Google will be enabling device encryption by default. At least for totally new devices. This will keep your data safe from digital intrusion. As the encryption keys are stored on the device itself (don't worry, not in an easily accessible way), Google has no access to them and, as a consequence, neither will any government agency. Only problem is that it will only be implemented in new devices and older devices, which are far more than new ones, remain unencrypted by default. Encryption also presents a stumbling block for power users who want to get more access to their device.

Google has also stepped up its SELinux implementation, the security framework that it adopted back in Android Jelly Bean. This time around, it is enforcing it across all apps. End users need not mind this feature other than the fact that, in theory, their apps are running in a secure manner. Unfortunately and rather ironically, this hardened security is also the biggest obstacle to gaining root, which is the gateway to all other power user mods. The situation isn't totally bleak and even SuperSU developer Chainfire is a bit optimistic, but it has become harder than it should, considering Android is a Linux-based platform.

These are just some of the changes coming our way in Android 5.0 Lollipop, and probably not the most exciting to end users, but also subtly the most important. Security has become a core concern for many mobile users these days and it is reassuring to see Google giving due emphasis to it. Of course, in the end, the onus isn't just on Google alone but on everyone who wields a smartphone in their hand.

SOURCE: Google

source: androidcommunity