Google further improves Android security by strengthening firmware

CTOnews.com, February 22, Google has begun to enhance the firmware level to further improve the security of Android. The firmware level is a key component of the system stack and can interact directly with various processors of the system-on-chip (SoC).

Google plans to extend the security settings for Android devices to other processors on SoC, specializing in tasks such as cellular communications, media processing or security modules.

Google says it is working with partners in the Android ecosystem to improve the security of Android firmware and explore a variety of protection mechanisms, as listed below by CTOnews.com:

Compiler-based cleaners:

Detect memory security issues that cause security vulnerabilities or crashes during the code compilation phase. Google mentioned BoundSan and IntSan.

Vulnerability mitigation measures:

Control flow integrity (CFI), kernel control flow integrity (kCFI), ShadowCallStack, and Stack Canaries

Memory security features:

Prevent errors such as buffer overflows, user post-release attacks, and null pointer dereferencing. Google mentioned the "zero initialization" (zero-initialized) mechanism, which zeros the memory value before the program accesses the allocated space, so it does not contain the random data previously used.

Google said that by optimizing the activation and location of mitigation measures, the impact on Android function, performance and system stability can be minimized.