Someone just found a huge Android security flaw that could affect 950 million mobile users

The Android operating system has a huge security flaw that could allow hackers to access and control mobiles just by knowing the phone number.

Zimperium, a cybersecurity firm, says an attacker could target the phone simply by sending a text message that contains a corrupted video.

Crucially, this could happen without the mobile's owner doing anything at all.

The Hangouts app on Android phones, which are owned by over 75 per cent of the world's mobile users, automatically analyses messages as they come into the phone, saving media like videos and photos for later use.

But according to Joshua Drake, a security researcher at Zimperium, this allows the hacker right in.

This happens even before the sound that you've received a message has even occurred.

That's what makes it so dangerous. [It] could be absolutely silent. You may not even see anything.

• Zimperium's Joshua Drake speaking to NPR

The hacker would be able to take control of the phone, wiping its memory, accessing information on apps or even switching on the camera, according to CNN Money.

Fortunately, Drake does not believe hackers are exploiting this vulnerability yet and in May shared his findings with Google - who run the operating system.

A spokesperson for Google confirmed to i100.co.uk they had been made aware of the flaw and have been working on a fix:

This vulnerability was identified in a laboratory setting on older Android devices, and as far as we know, no one has been affected.

As soon as we were made aware of the vulnerability we took immediate action and sent a fix to our partners to protect users.

• Google spokesperson

The Google spokesperson added that as part of a regular security update next week they will be adding in further safeguards for Nexus devices - which they also manufacture.

However, as CNN Money notes, Google will rely on each of its partners who make the devices (e.g. Samsung, HTC etc) and the carriers (e.g. O2, Vodafone etc) to implement the changes for other users - which could take some time.

More: The YouTube change everyone has been waiting for is coming