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The new Google Pixel and Pixel XL phones that the company recently released are holding their own in the smartphone market and to an extent can be called a hit. The search giant claimed during the release of the phones that the phone is as secure as it gets, and even compared to the benchmark on the smartphone market, the Apple iPhone.
However, a new research shows that the security which is on the Google Pixel phone might not be as high end as the developers mentioned, after a group of hackers managed to get into the phone in less than 30 seconds of trying. Luckily, the hackers who did the attempted were none other than white hat hackers.
The security researchers who were involved are believed to be workers for the Chinese company, Qihoo 360. They say that they managed to gain full and complete access to the phone such as the personal information which includes the call log, contacts and the messages.
Fortunately, the hackers are white hat hackers meaning any exploit they found they report it to Google who would then have to release an update to make their model much safer than it is now. The hacking attempt is said to have taken place at the PwnFest, which took place in Seoul, South Korea.
After being informed about the problem, Google was able to work on an update which they released quickly, 24 hours after they had received the complaint. This means that new owners of the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones do not have anything to worry about just yet. The security researchers from the Chinese company also pocketed a hefty bounty reward for themselves.
They got $120,000 from Google for their troubles. The researchers were also involved in another exploit discovery for Adobe flash which they discovered in just four seconds, and therefore they received another $120,000 as a result. Another hacking group also managed to get $80,000 from Apple after revealing one flaw in just 20 seconds.
However, another issue is that just because the Pixel phone was used to discover the hack, it is not the only device which might show the exploits. Other device owners might be faced with the same exploit and unless their manufacturers release an update, then they will still be at risk. The exploit might be Android wide, meaning it will probably mot be patched on each and every device.
