Be careful on what you click on, Galaxy S III users, ‘cause what you click might just result in the end of your happy ‘droid days.
Ravi Borgaonkar discovered a serious bug in Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which, if fed the right code, could allow someone to remotely factory reset the Galaxy S III, erasing all of its contents, or worse, SIM lock the device, shutting the user out. The code can be embedded in a website, sent as an SMS, NFC or via a QR code. Once the unsuspecting user clicks on it or visits the link, the wipe process begins with no way to stop it. Scary stuff, right?
Check it out being demoed in the video below (skip to the 9:30 mark where the real action begins):
The good news is, it appears this is only limited to a number of handset only. So far, the Galaxy S Advance, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Beam, and the current king of the Samsung Android kingdom, the Galaxy S III, are the only ones confirmed susceptible to this bug, and based on TNW’s experience, those running on Jelly Bean have nothing to worry about.
Samsung has yet to come out with a statement addressing this security flaw, and likewise, there isn’t a known fix for this as well.
So be careful, guys! Don’t easily give in to tempting links ’cause you never know. What you click on might just be your last.
Hat tip to avid reader Sherwin for this one!
