Nearly every Android phone can be hacked with a single text message

In case you hadn't heard yet, the Internet exploded yesterday with the news of a bug (more of a security vulnerability) called Stagefright that affects about 90% of Android devices. It's actually existed for about 5 years, and gives attackers a simple way to access everything on your device using MMS (picture messages).  

For those of you who are REALLY not tech savvy and don't actually know if you have an Android phone... If your phone has a touch screen and doesn't have an Apple logo on the back, it's probably an Android.  

Fortune has a good Q and A article on the whole debacle. Click here to check it out. 

Long story short-  

It's extremely serious. Google (who makes Android) have already patched it... But the way Android works is it's up to the handset manufacturers and telcos to get updates to you (for example Samsung or Telstra). Good luck waiting for Telstra. 

So what to do until an update is released?  

Click here to visit Twillio and read their instructions for protecting your device.   

 

What to do if you own an iPhone? 

If you own an Apple iPhone this bug doesn't affect you, so you can act smug around anyone with an Android device and make them hate you.