Another reason not to root your Galaxy S5. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

A security research firm has uncovered a flaw in Android that allows hackers to steal copies of our fingerprints from the Galaxy S5, and possibly other devices. Samsung says it is already investigating the issue, which will be demonstrated at the RSA security conference this week.

More than half a million Android smartphones across the U.S. and Europe have been infected by malware distributed by SMS, new research has found. Once the malicious software is installed, it is used to access all of the data stored on your phone that hackers might be interested in — including your text messages, call logs, contacts list, and even your photos.

Researchers have uncovered a major security flaw in the Android operating system that allows hackers to modify trusted apps without changing their verification signature. Attackers could take advantage of the vulnerability to install keyloggers, backdoors, and other malicious functions into apps, which would continue to look completely legitimate to their users.

George “Geohot” Hotz, the legendary hacker who’s famous for his iPhone jailbreaks, has turned his attention to Android devices and released the first root for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. It’s quite possibly one of the easiest root methods you’ll ever come across, and it was developed in a matter of hours.

You can get some pretty cool gadgets that can be remote controlled by your smartphones and tablets, such as helicopters, cars, and even tanks. But who wants one of those when you can control the real think?

At the Hack in the Box security conference in Amsterdam this week, Hugo Teso, a pilot turned IT technician, demonstrated the ability to remotely hijack an airplane using a smartphone and a radio transmitter.