All Google Nexus Devices To Receive Boot-Time Security Warnings For OS Safety

A Google support page details a possible security warning system for Nexus devices. A boot-time device security warning system will be part of the upcoming Android operating system, Android M, which is to be released in coming months.

The support page for the upcoming version of the Android OS alerts Nexus device users that in case a security risk is detected when the device boots with the new OS, a security warning will pop up. Each one of the warnings will be color-coded to distinguish the level of risk involved.

The warning a device has an OS that deviates from the norm will be coded yellow. Orange will be shown if the OS is corrupted and red represents not only corruption but that the device cannot be trusted to work properly, Phone Arena said.

The three color-coded warning messages received on boot up can be dismissed. This tells Nexus device owners Google warned the user before installation of an OS update. In any case, Nexus device users can flash the latest factory image to restore the old OS.

As for those who tweak the OS, Phone Arena said, the user might have to go through few more rounds of questions/clicks to get the new OS from Google. On the other hand, the advantage of such warnings is that hack victims will know their handsets are at risk if Google finds any dubious security issues when trying to install a new OS version.

Apart from the three warnings, there’s not much information available on the boot-time device security at this point. As the Android M release date nears, there’s a chance this new feature will be part of the OS package, Phone Arena said.