It appears that the Galaxy S23 is not at all safe against hacking attempts, as the device has gone through two hacks on the first day of the Pwn2Own hacking contest taking place in Toronto.
The first exploit came out from an allowed list of inputs that were mentioned by the competition, whereas the second group managed to exploit Galaxy S23's input validation technique. This means with the help of improper input validation, hackers can dupe an app and then execute a malicious code and even have control of various resources on the device.
The Galaxy S23 might not be safe against certain hacks, but they will be patched before anything goes wrong
The rules clearly state that the entrants have to “compromise the device by browsing to web content in the default browser for the target under test” or by using NFC, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. The device also needs to be running on the latest software and security patch version, which is not something that the Galaxy S23 should have a problem with.
Now, before you get worried about your Galaxy S23 not being safe enough, it is worth noting that the entire competition took place in a safe space, and the prize money went to ethical hackers and researchers so they could discover the vulnerabilities in these phones. This also means that the exploits are already documented, and we should have a fix for them soon.
The Galaxy S23 wasn't the only phone that was part of this hacking competition. The Pixel 7, iPhone 14, and Xiaomi 13 Pro were also part of this hacking competition. However, Google's and Apple's devices managed to come out without getting hacked, whereas the Xiaomi 13 Pro fell victim to two breaches.
While these breaches look like they are scary, and I would imagine the same for my phones, the good news is that they are conducted for the betterment. The researchers are given access to the prize money, and more importantly, with the information gathered from these hacking contests, it becomes a lot easier for device manufacturers to ensure that proper measures are being used to prevent these devices from running into such issues.
News Source: ZeroDayInitiative
About the author: I have been tinkering with Android devices ever since the early days of the HTC Desire. Over time, I have grown a fondness for the ecosystem and now I cannot live without it. Although some might believe that I have sold my soul to Android, but I believe it is not the case. You can find me writing tutorials and posting guides on a number of different smartphones. When I am not writing here, I am wasting myself away in books, journals, or on Steam.
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