Open source Android bug seeker launched

An open source Android security testing framework had been launched that analyses vulnerabilities in the mobile platform.

The technology dubbed 'Mercury'  was launched at BlackHat EU on the back of media coverage of security issues on Android phones, and in light of the fact that researching vulnerabilities in mobile phones is time-consuming.

The tool was designed to allow testing of applications before, during and after development, MWR InfoSecurity managing director Ian Shaw told SC Magazine.

“This comes with the Android platform that OEM vendors have taken and added to links to reduce security vulnerabilities in the development process," he said.

"It is a tool to spot when you are making mistakes and add support for developers.

The app would be installed on a phone and request a single permission of access to the internet. It then returns recommendations on corrections and reviews other applications and content providers.

“For businesses looking to use Android devices and review environments form a security perspective, this is a tool to use as there are a lot of issues in the security development lifecycle in the Android platform.”

MWR InfoSecurity said the tool has been used already to identify multiple vulnerabilities, and it has informed phone manufacturers of these issues.

Mercury is being released in an open-source form, available at http://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/

This article originally appeared at scmagazineuk.com