Samsung Galaxy Devices Get a New Security Feature With the Android 17 Update: Report

Samsung is expected to start rolling out the stable version of the One UI 9 update for compatible Galaxy devices, upgrading the company's handsets and tablets to Android 17, which is currently in beta testing. Samsung recently announced that, as an added layer of protection, the smartphone maker will reduce the number of failed unlock attempts with the upcoming Android 17 update. Now, a report highlights that the tech giant has also introduced a limit of 20 failed attempts within a specific time period. However, a Galaxy device running One UI 9 could enter lockdown mode after 13 failed unlocking attempts.

Samsung's Reduced Failed Unlock Attempts Limit Could Curb Brute Force Attacks

According to a 9to5Google report, citing the One UI 9 support page, which is now inaccessible, the South Korean tech giant has reduced the number of failed unlock attempts a user can make before the device enters lockdown mode, requiring a hard reset, which is said to roll out with the Android 17-based One UI 9 update. This will reportedly provide enhanced protection against brute-force attacks, where a bad actor can use different tools to try multiple combinations to unlock a device.

The report highlights that the intervals between failed attempts have also been increased. However, the device will not register duplicate passcodes as additional failed attempts. The limits will reportedly be enforced for specific time periods. For reference, five consecutive failed attempts could result in a 1-minute lockout, six failed attempts will have a five-minute lockout, seven will result in a 15-minute lockout, and eight attempts will increase the lockout to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, nine, 10, 11, and 12 failed attempts will reportedly result in 90 minutes, four hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours long lockouts. With the 13th consecutive failed unlock attempt, the Samsung Galaxy device, running Android 17-based One UI 9, will reportedly enter lockdown mode, which might require the user to perform a factory reset.

The South Korean tech conglomerate has reportedly also capped the total number of failed unlock attempts at 20 over a 20-year period. As previously mentioned, the new limits are expected to arrive with the release of the Android 17-based One UI 9 update. However, the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 already ship with the latest software version.