As most Android users know, carriers and smartphone manufacturers aren't the best at keeping your device updated to the latest Android operating system. Unfortunately, never upgrading, or slow upgrading, leaves consumers' devices open to vulnerabilities that have been patched in the later version.

According to one study, the number of devices with vulnerabilities that have been patched in later versions is in excess of 50 percent. This news comes from a new statup that is receiving funding from the Department of Defense. Users who ran their X-ray app had their phone scanned by the app for known vulnerabilities that are unpatched.

"The stat is based on over 20,000 users who downloaded and ran the X-Ray mobile application on their device, and the current global distribution of Android versions," said Jon Oberheide, CTO of Duo Security. "As carriers are very conservative in rolling out patches to fix vulnerabilities in the Android platform, users' mobile devices often remain vulnerable for months and even years."

Unfortunately, this means a more insecure operating system for users who's carriers or manufacturers don't update the devices. This could ultimately be the downfall of Android, if the manufacturers don't start keeping devices up-to-date.