ANDROID SECURITY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

With more devices being connected every day, malware practices have increased over the years. While ransomware attacks have increased to 36% over the years (almost 4000 a day), Microsoft estimates that the potential cost of global cybercrime is at about $500 billion. Up to the first quarter of 2018, Android’s global market share was at 85.9% up from 76% in 2017. With almost 98% of malware attacks being targeted on the Android platform, it is becoming a prime target for hackers. For enterprise devices, enterprise customers must minimize security vulnerabilities to keep their devices secure due to increased business impact. For consumer devices, OEMs find it challenging to protect their investment and reduce total cost of ownership over the devices’ lifetime. Consumer Electronics OEMs are also coming into the fold of the Android Enterprise Recommended Program to ensure market confidence and are supplying devices to enterprises in order to increase their market share.

Android maintenance is mandated by Android Enterprise Recommended Program for both enterprise and consumer devices and involves providing security patches every month as a compliance.

With over 1200 person months’ experience, Sasken has played a crucial role in delivering Android Security Management services and addressed 6000+ common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) on 90+ models for both consumer electronics and enterprise device customers. Sasken has successfully ported all versions of Android from Eclair to the latest Android 10 and enabled leading OEMs to launch their Android-based consumer and enterprise devices on various chipsets (Qualcomm, MediaTek, Texas Instruments, etc.) in operator networks in North America and Asia. Sasken’s Android Security Management Center of Excellence (CoE), comprised of Android Security Management experts and an Android Security Management lab, provides subscription-based Android Security Management services that enable OEMs to reduce efforts in managing security upgrades and provide long-term maintenance of security upgrades.

OFFERINGS

  • Complete ownership of providing security patches to OEMs for Android devices
  • Pre-built and tested part-patch-update at a defined cadence:
    • Analysis on OEM’s Device:
      • Verify Target OS relevance for that device
      • Analysis of patches
    • Integration:
      • Direct integration for supported Android versions
      • Propagating patches
      • Resolving merge conflicts
    • Validation::
      • End-to-end platform testing
      • Google pre-certification
      • Resolving merge conflicts
    • Certification support:
      • Google Compliance (CTS, GTS, CTS-on-GSI, CTS Instant, VTS, STS)
      • Carrier Certification Support
    • OTA campaign deployment support
    • Backporting of patches to legacy Android versions
    • Dedicated engineering team working in factory-model on all chipsets variants ensuring uninterrupted support and integration ready patches available every month
    • Sasken Security Package (SSP) contains integrated AOSP and chipset security patches

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Android security management aims to minimize vulnerabilities that expose enterprise customers to significant business impacts and cybercrime costs. Because nearly 98% of mobile malware attacks target the Android platform, enterprises must implement rigorous security protocols. This process involves regular maintenance to protect hardware investments and reduce the total cost of ownership.

The Android Enterprise Recommended Program mandates that OEMs provide monthly security patches to remain compliant. This requirement applies to both enterprise and consumer-grade devices to ensure market confidence. Compliance is typically verified through a suite of Google tests, including:

  • CTS (Compatibility Test Suite)
  • GTS (GMS Test Suite)
  • VTS (Vendor Test Suite)
  • STS (Security Test Suite)

Sasken addresses common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) through a dedicated Android Security Management Center of Excellence. The team has successfully resolved over 6,000 CVEs on 90+ models for both consumer electronics and enterprise device customers. By using a subscription-based model, they provide long-term maintenance and security upgrades while reducing the manual effort required by OEMs.

Sasken provides complete ownership of security patching, including OS relevance analysis, patch integration, and merge conflict resolution. Their factory-model engineering team ensures that patches are integration-ready and available every month. Additional services include backporting patches to legacy Android versions and providing end-to-end platform validation for various chipset variants.

Security update support is available for a wide range of chipsets, including those from Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Texas Instruments. Sasken has enabled leading OEMs to launch Android-based devices on these platforms across operator networks in North America and Asia. A dedicated engineering team ensures uninterrupted support for all chipset variants to maintain security integrity.

The Sasken Security Package (SSP) is a pre-built solution containing integrated AOSP and chipset-specific security patches. This package allows for a defined cadence of updates, ensuring that devices receive tested part-patch updates efficiently. It is designed to streamline the OTA (Over-the-Air) campaign deployment process for consumer electronics and enterprise devices. 

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