Beware, 33% of Android Phones in the World Are Vulnerable to Hackers.

Dili - In May 2025, almost 33% of Android phones will run an operating system that is no longer supported by Google. As a result, these devices are vulnerable to hackers.

This is the result of a report by antivirus company Bitdefender that was recently published. They revealed that Android phones occupy around 70% of the market, but many of these devices pose a security risk because Google no longer provides support.

Many phones still run on old versions of Android. Without security patches, these old versions are a gateway favored by hackers.Unfortunately, too many consumers ignore the importance of security patches and continue to use vulnerable devices years after they have been declared obsolete by the manufacturer, the report said.

"We can still find devices running versions of Android that were released a decade ago, and they are much more popular than you might think," said Bitdefender.

To prove its claim, the company examined phones that use the Bitdefender application. As expected, there are a large number of devices that have not yet been upgraded to Android 12 or Android 11.

In detail, Android 12 represents 36.47% of the smartphones considered in the study. Android 11 runs on 29.15% of devices.

Android 10 is still running on 15.03% of devices. This version of Android will no longer be supported by Google starting in September 2022 when Android 13 is available in a final, stable version.

So, 33% of Android phones used worldwide will no longer receive security patches, which opens the door for hackers to hack devices. Even without taking Android 11 into account, the number is still quite large, if calculated, 20% of devices are already vulnerable.

Bitdefender recommends to "consider the support period when buying a new device". The company advises to avoid phones with inadequate software support.

"Whenever a new vulnerability appears, the first advice is always the same, regardless of the platform: apply the latest security patch as soon as possible," advises Bitdefender.