Take extra security measures, as it seems the Google Play PIN won’t cut it

• Edgar Cervantes
• 13 years ago

As security continues to be a major issue in the Android ecosystem, a bit of related news have just surfaced. It seems like the Google Play Store PIN has a security hole, allowing unwanted users to bypass the security PIN and purchasing content with your credit card.

We have seen similar issues with Google Wallet in the past. The security PIN is saved in your smartphone, granting access to your information locally. This means that any user who finds/steals your device can go ahead and just clear the app’s data under settings. Such action would also delete the PIN, and let the bad boys in.

A good idea would be to have such PIN access codes saved on Google’s servers, instead of locally. This would mean that one would need an internet connection in order to purchase any content. But one already needs a data connection for accessing and purchasing content, anyways. So this would not really create any issues.

Regardless, we assume most thieves are not exactly following all the Android news, and know about this issue. But one can never be too careful. Make sure you take other security measures if you are one to be a bit careless with your device. A lock screen password would probably be the most convenient.

We sure hope that Google provides a fix for this loophole, though. For now, just be a bit extra careful.

[Via: Brief Mobile]