We've often stressed the need to upgrade your old phones, particularly if they're not longer eligible for software support. The lack of new security patches leaves you vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, and there may also be other issues that fly under the radar until they emerge when you least expect them to. Unfortunately, a person in Sydney, Australia, experienced this last week. They died because their old Samsung Galaxy phone was able to call the 000 number for emergency services.It's literally a matter of life and deathLebara, a virtual mobile network that sells mobile services on Vodafone's network, confirmed that while the customer tried to dial emergency services, the call didn't connect because the Samsung device was incompatible. It was also confirmed that there wasn't a network outage at that time so the call should have gone through. Early assessments suggest that the deceased customer was using a Samsung device with software that wasn't compatible with making 000 calls on the network.Several networks in Australia, including Vodafone's parent company TPG, Optus, and Telstra sent out advisories about outdated devices last month. Customers were informed that if they don't update their handsets within a month then their existing devices will be blocked from the network.It's believed that some 50,000 outdated Samsung devices will be blocked from the networks. Affected device models are said to include the Galaxy A7 (2017), Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy J1 (2016), Galaxy J3 (2016), Galaxy J5 (2017), Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, Galaxy S7, and the Galaxy S7 Edge. All of these devices are well past their end of life for software support. Samsung has also provided a list of old devices, that still receive software support, which will require an update to ensure they're able to dial 000 in an emergency. Users in Australia should really check it out to ensure that they're squared away so that they're not cut off from help in case of an emergency.The post Someone died as their outdated Samsung phone couldn’t call emergency services appeared first on SamMobile.