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Several security holes exist in Ice Cream Sandwich

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There are a few security holes in Ice Cream Sandwich which can be handled by just begin aware of some points and strengthening the weak links

The recently released Android 4.0 or the Ice Cream Sandwich with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is said to have a lot of great features to look forward to. Some of the early reviews also said it to be a cutting edge mobile OS.

But some of the features also come with a potential security concern to the users. Android 4.0 is also said to have introduced some security holes that users and IT administrators need to be aware of, according to Good Technology. Although none of these security gaps are strong enough to let you avoid the Ice Cream sandwich but you should at least be aware of the potential security risks, which will help you to take some steps from defending yourself and your device from them.

The On-Device encryption is really a nice feature, but it also introduces a variable which can make the encryption on an Android device stronger than the encryption on another. The encryption is only as strong as the algorithm used the protection of the encryption keys and the strength of the password used to unlock it. Any of the weak links in this case will lead to a security breach.

The ability to copy and paste from email could lead to data loss. The IT personals should keep this in mind that it could be possible to take email content or data from a file attachment and open it in another third party application which may not provide the same level of security.

The facial recognition provided with this version is really an awesome feature to be added. It really prevents you from remembering one more password or a pin but in the same way it also has a weak point. It can also be possible for someone else to get access to your device as a decent picture of you might be enough for someone to activate the facial recognition.

The Android beam is really appreciated for its ability to beam data and contacts from one Android device to another. But if the data is not encrypted in transit there is a possibility of information to be exposed in transit.

Capturing screen shots is a crucial function for a smartphone as well as a tablet, as it helps in storing important information and troubleshooting. But it can be a compromising feature for an IT professional as capturing of sensitive data can duplicated and shared with others.  

If you really keep these factors in mind while using then you really won’t be compromising with your private as well as secured data. And apart from that Ice Cream Sandwich is really a great platform which provides you with a great variety of cool features and functions. 

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Pallab Jyotee Hazarika, 2011-11-21 (Update: 2012-05-26)