Hackers target Android phones because one of the OS's biggest advantages — freedom — can be a vulnerability. The Android app ecosystem is friendly to novelty and experimentation, and that invites bad actors along with the good. While Android developers are hunting for new and interesting ways to make our phones useful, hackers are looking for ways to exploit devices for money, bragging rights, or both. It helps no one when a basic component like a phone's chipset comes out of the factory with a flaw that lets a cyberattacker take over your digital life.