A new report claims that more than 40 percent of Android devices are still running outdated software, suggesting that they no longer receive critical security updates, which puts them at high risk of malware threats.
Do you use an older version of Android? If so, your phone might be at risk of malware attacks, and you should take action against that. Tech giant Google has warned that more than 40 percent of Android devices are at risk of spyware and malware attacks. Let us deep dive into the matter to understand how you can secure your smartphone from spyware and malware threats.
According to Google’s latest Android version breakdown, only 7.5 percent of devices run the latest Android 16 and 19.3 percent of phones run Android 15. While 17.9 percent of devices run Android 14 and 13.9 percent run Android 13, as of December 2025.
This totals to around 58 percent of devices, which indicates that more than 40 percent of smartphones run Android 12 or older versions, and that puts them at risk of malware threats, as the tech giant does not support Android 12 or older versions with critical security patches.
A report by Forbes suggests that those using Android 12 or older versions of Android should either upgrade to Android 13 or above, or switch to a new device that supports a newer Android version to stay away from spyware and malware attacks.
While the tech giant has released this data very recently, this was compiled back in December, and the company has alerted users that Android was once again being targeted by new spyware attacks, and these outdated devices are more prone to those attacks.
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