Android APK 4.2 teardown shows Google getting serious about security

The folks at Android Police released part two of their Android 4.2 Alpha teardown today. The first edition revealed Android may soon have a Quick Settings feature available in the notifications panel. Now, it looks like Google is also turning its focus to beefing up security on the open platform.

We already know there’s the possibility of a built-in malware scanner coming to the Google Play store to help users make better decisions about which apps they install. Users should also expect Bouncer, the server-side malware scanner, but there’s evidence that more is on the way.

First on the list is Security-Enhanced Linux, essentially a set of kernel add-ons that keeps applications from running rampant and having access to all the user’s files. Android Police found code buried in the Settings APK that hints at an option to enable this kind of security in Android 4.2. There are three options for SELinux, including Disabled, Permissive, and Enforcing. Permissive essentially allows apps to have access and will log when the OS would have blocked an application, but it won’t actually block anything from having root file access. Enforcing puts all “hands” on deck to keep applications from having root access, and Disabled implies there’s no security at all. The prevalence of such a feature follows a bigger trend in mobile security, where OSes are adopting standard security features found in desktop operating systems like Windows and OS X. There is also the SE Android project that’s been working to bring this kind of security to Android.

The APK also shows evidence of VPN lockdown. This function ensures that certain data is sent only while connected to a specific network. At present, if Android users are logged out of VPN during an active session, the data will still send over the active Internet connection (offering no security). With the code tweaks in the APK, the session will stop immediately if there’s no VPN access available, rather than default to the active Internet connection.

Lastly, users will now have SMS confirmation when sending out text messages. This is to help combat recent malware that charged user accounts for text messages they never actually sent. Now, Android might ask users before it sends out a text message to a short code phone number.

None of these features have been confirmed for Android 4.2, but even the idea is a step in the right direction. If Google focuses its efforts on making Android more safe and secure for users, it could help grow the operating system’s market share and finally give it the safety rating it needs for enterprise users who want to switch from BlackBerry or iOS.