Samsung and Google are partnering to release monthly security fixes for Android phones as the operating system becomes increasingly targeted by hackers looking to exploit flaws in programming to access private information.

The announcement comes following the revelation of the Stagefright bug, which enables hackers to send a special multimedia message to Android phones and access sensitive content even if the message remains unread.

“Weve realised we need to move faster,” said Adrian Ludwig, security chief for Android at this weeks annual Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.

In the past, Google would only develop patches for distribution on its own Nexus phones following the discovery of security flaws, while many other manufacturers would leave phones vulnerable until they had other reasons to release an update, exposing most of the Android ecosystem and around 1bn users to potential hacks, scams and exploits.

According to Ludwig, recent improvements to newer versions of Android will limit the effectiveness of attacks in more than 90 per cent of phones, but with so many Android phones in circulation, a large number of users are still left vulnerable.

While the monthly fixes should go some way to improving security for Android users, Rick Segal, vice president of Samsung has acknowledged that the company cannot force the various telecoms that buy devices in bulk to install the fixes, and some may only do so for higher-end users.