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From the Note 7 to S Suggest, Samsung please stop making mistakes

ANDROIDPIT samsung BRAND SIGN GENERAL ifa2015
© nextpit

The security of a smartphone doesn't only depend on users, the manufacturer also plays a significant hand. We expect and trust the manufacturer to do its very best when it comes to ensuring maximum security on our smartphones, particularly when it comes to regular updates. With this in mind, it hasn't been Samsung's finest hour these past few months, starting with the exploding Note 7 fiasco and leading up to now having another error because it "forgot" something.

Remember S Suggest, an app Samsung had put on all its smartphones until 2014? Motherboard Vice recently reported that this function was at a center of a somewhat incredulous story on smartphone security: it came this close to being the source of a huge hacking vulnerability.

Samsung decided to stop updating the app but it forgot one small but really quite important detail: users who bought (and who still have) phones from before 2014 still have the app on their devices. When Samsung decided not to renew the domain name ssuggest.com (the website behind the app) upon its expiration, it pretty much opened up the playing field to hackers who might wish to cause damage as it could then be used to manipulate phones from afar thanks to the numerous permissions required by the app. A security expert, João Gouveia, spotted the error and fixed the issue after he took over the domain.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Southwest The Verge 840x560
This is the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the phone that exploded. © The Verge

A few months earlier, Samsung had also put its foot in it when it launched an exploding smartphone on the market. When it became apparent that its latest device in the Note series was a ticking time-bomb, the Note 7 was quickly recalled in order to further investigate the issue. The production team put their heads together and came up with an improved model and thus the Note 7 was re-launched. Ironically, these models also began exploding as it turned out to be a manufacturing error.

Granted, making an error is human and everyone is at risk of doing it. Granted, Samsung was neither the first nor will it be the last to find itself at the heart of an international scandal. But is it acceptable despite this? No, it isn't. And the argument that "others are doing the same thing" doesn't excuse anything. This new story shows a lack of diligence that is unfortunately not unique to Samsung - it's a trend that's driving the current economy to act ever faster in order to minimize cost and maximize revenue, sometimes overlooking important details, which should be a priority. Like security.

In summary, dear manufacturers, please stay concentrated: do what you can to ensure the safety of your devices because what may seem like a minor detail can end up having huge repercussions.

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Benoit Pepicq

Benoit Pepicq
Editor

Benoit is passionate about new technologies and everything related to computers. A big Android fan since 2011, he joined the AndroidPIT team to satisfy his passion and to share his knowledge on Android with readers.

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10 comments
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  • 12
    Deactivated Account Jun 18, 2017 Link to comment

    Lmao 😂! I just came here for the hyper defensive butthurt, not disappointed.


  • 26
    Andrew Burgin Jun 18, 2017 Link to comment

    Samsung was so worried about the success of the Apple iPhone 7 once it got released,so they rushed out the Note 7 without doing any check outs of there batteries they were going to use,every company as one hick up now and again,Samsung always seem worried about everything Apple as offer and always like to copy there features,trying to gain iPhone users,but one of the biggest mistake Samsung as made was the lost of the Removable Battery Option in the Premium phones,plus the use of Glass which breaks easily and is a fingerprint magnet


    • 28
      itprolonden Jul 1, 2017 Link to comment

      None of that's true. What kind of company doesn't QC. IT was ony a few phones out of the millions,


  • Luke Meiritz-Reid 2
    Luke Meiritz-Reid Jun 17, 2017 Link to comment

    BS Article .
    Love the way he focuses in on N7 fiasco of last year .
    Samsung learnt a valuable lesson now with an 8 point safety check and using a battery component that now doesn't catch fire doesn't explode.
    Yep YouTube anti Samsung idiots drilled into a S8 battery it wouldn't spark or catch on fire when expected. ..just oozed a little bit of chemical then nothing. Samsung remain tight lipped re their success in formulating a Safe Battery Technique.
    Do you blame them dick heads like this Article author still sticking the knife at every opportunity.

    Meanwhile other Brands including iPhones continue to catch on fire.

    So here we are Samsung S8 now acclaimed the Best Smartphone already 2017... Brilliant

    So can we Stop these iDiotic Articles


    • Bradley Leyten 1
      Bradley Leyten Jun 17, 2017 Link to comment

      Well said. I'm beyond tired of these so called tech sites that keep talking about the N7. This rag of a site that has more ads than content shouldn't be taking jabs at anyone.


  • 1
    Kris Mapes Jun 17, 2017 Link to comment

    Such a BS article. I would love to buy a pixel but I can't because Google doesn't know how to make enough phones to sale outside rich white countries. As for the domain registration Google not only didn't renew their domain they let someone else register it luckily for Google the guy was a white hat and honestly gave it back. If this security vanurabilty were to make me stop buying Samsung I would have to switch an iphone.


    • 28
      itprolonden Jul 1, 2017 Link to comment

      We have lots of rich Blacks, Mexicans and Asians my racist friend...


  • Albin Foro 30
    Albin Foro Jun 16, 2017 Link to comment

    Samsung, because it keeps making up its own "inventions" on the Android system, reminds me of the White Knight in "Alice in Wonderland":

    'I see you're admiring my little box,' the Knight said in a friendly tone. 'It's my own invention -- to keep clothes and sandwiches in. You see I carry it upside-down, so that the rain can't get in.'

    'But the things can get out,' Alice gently remarked. 'Do you know the lid's open?'

    'I didn't know it,' the Knight said, a shade of vexation passing over his face. 'Then all the things must have fallen out! And the box is no use without them.' He unfastened it as he spoke, and was just going to throw it into the bushes, when a sudden thought seemed to strike him, and he hung it carefully on a tree. 'Can you guess why I did that?' he said to Alice.

    Alice shook her head.

    'In hopes some bees may make a nest in it -- then I should get the honey.'


  • My1 37
    My1 Jun 16, 2017 Link to comment

    in my opinion pretty much every phone since the S6 that I've seen is a mistake. they either have no micro SD support, no battery support, or the worst offenders (like the S6 itself) dont support either of them.


    • Anna Bana 1
      Anna Bana Jun 17, 2017 Link to comment

      So, only LG's? Has anyone else kept the removable battery? The G5 was a complete bust to boot.
      You're in the same boat as I am. Longing for something that the industry moved on from.

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