• Home
  • Line#
  • Scopes#
  • Navigate#
  • Raw
  • Download
1page.title=Security Enhancements in Android 4.4
2@jd:body
3
4<p>
5Every Android release includes dozens of security enhancements to protect
6users. The following are some of the security enhancements available
7in Android 4.4:
8</p>
9
10<ul>
11  <li><strong>Android sandbox reinforced with SELinux.</strong>
12  Android now uses SELinux in enforcing mode. SELinux is a mandatory
13  access control (MAC) system in the Linux kernel used to augment the
14  existing discretionary access control (DAC) based security model.
15  This provides additional protection against potential security
16  vulnerabilities.</li>
17
18  <li><strong>Per User VPN.</strong>
19  On multi-user devices, VPNs are now applied per user.
20  This can allow a user to route all network traffic through a VPN
21  without affecting other users on the device.</li>
22
23  <li><strong>ECDSA Provider support in AndroidKeyStore.</strong>
24  Android now has a keystore provider that allows use of ECDSA and
25  DSA algorithms.</li>
26
27  <li><strong>Device Monitoring Warnings.</strong>
28  Android provides users with a warning if any certificate has been
29  added to the device certificate store that could allow monitoring of
30  encrypted network traffic.</li>
31
32  <li><strong>FORTIFY_SOURCE.</strong>
33  Android now supports FORTIFY_SOURCE level 2, and all code is compiled
34  with these protections. FORTIFY_SOURCE has been enhanced to work with
35  clang.</li>
36
37  <li><strong>Certificate Pinning.</strong>
38  Android 4.4 detects and prevents the use of fraudulent Google
39  certificates used in secure SSL/TLS communications.</li>
40
41  <li><strong>Security Fixes.</strong>
42  Android 4.4 also includes fixes for Android-specific vulnerabilities.
43  Information about these vulnerabilities has been provided to Open
44  Handset Alliance members and fixes are available in Android Open Source
45  Project. To improve security, some devices with earlier versions of
46  Android may also include these fixes.</li>
47
48</ul>
49