Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE December 2016 Understanding and Improving Security of the Android Operating System Edward Paul Ratazzi Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Ratazzi, Edward Paul, "Understanding and Improving Security of the Android Operating System" (2016). Dissertations - ALL. 592. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/592 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ABSTRACT Successful realization of practical computer security improvements requires an understanding and insight into the system’s security architecture, combined with a consideration of end-users’ needs as well as the system’s design tenets. In the case of Android, a system with an open, modular architecture that emphasizes usability and performance, acquiring this knowledge and insight can be particularly challenging for several reasons. In spite of Android’s open source philosophy, the system is extremely large and complex, documentation and reference materials are scarce, and the code base is rapidly evolving with new features and fixes. To make matters worse, the vast majority of Android devices in use do not run the open source code, but rather proprietary versions that have been heavily customized by vendors for product dierentiation. Proposing security improvements or making customizations without suicient insight into the system typically leads to less-practical, less-eicient, or even vulnerable results. Point solutions to specific problems risk leaving other similar problems in the distributed security architecture unsolved.