Samsung bug puts Galaxy phones, smartwatches at the risk of being hacked

Samsung update: A critical vulnerability in Samsung's Exynos chipset has left millions of smartphones and smartwatches across globe at risk of getting hacked. high risk Exynos bug was highlighted by Google's Xingyu Jin and Clement Lecigne and it affects a host of Exynos chipsets, which includes Exynos 9820, Exynos 9825, Exynos 980, Exynos 990, Exynos 850, and Exynos W920.

To put into perspective, se chips power a host of company's popular smartphones and smartwatches. list of smartphones affected by this bug include Samsung Galaxy S20 series, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series, Samsung Galaxy S10 series, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 series, Samsung Galaxy A21, Galaxy A51, and Samsung Galaxy A71. Coming to smartwatches, vulnerability in question also affects Galaxy Watch 5, Galaxy Watch FE and Galaxy Watch 4.

What is vulnerability any why should Samsung device users care about it?

According to data shared by Google's threat analysis group, vulnerability in mentioned Exynos chips could allow hackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged process on targeted device. This, in turn, would let hackers gain access to users' personal and private data such as bank account details, passwords, re conversations and even access photos and videos.

What me this bug particularly difficult to find for security researchers and on-device software is fact that it would rename itself as a Samsung process.

While Samsung hasn't revealed if bug has been used by malicious attackers to target users, Samsung has warned users against vulnerability.

How can Samsung smartphone and smartwatch users protect mselves?

Samsung device owners can protect ir data from this vulnerability by downloing latest version of available software on ir smartphones and smartwatches. To update Samsung Galaxy smartphone, users need to go to Software Update Section in Settings app and n tap Downlo and Install option. 

Similarly, to update software on Samsung smartwatch, users need to tap Watch software update option in Watch Settings of Galaxy Wearable app.