New York Times: Secret Back Door in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
WASHINGTON — For about $50, you can get a smartphone with a high-definition display, fast data service and, according to security contractors, a secret feature: a backdoor that sends all your text messages to China every 72 hours.
Security contractors recently discovered preinstalled software in some Android phones that monitors where users go, whom they talk to and what they write in text messages. The American authorities say it is not clear whether this represents secretive data mining for advertising purposes or a Chinese government effort to collect intelligence.
International customers and users of disposable or prepaid phones are the people most affected by the software. But the scope is unclear. The Chinese company that wrote the software, Shanghai Adups Technology Company, says its code runs on more than 700 million phones, cars and other smart devices. One American phone manufacturer, BLU Products, said that 120,000 of its phones had been affected and that it had updated the software to eliminate the feature.
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WNU Editor: 10 years ago this would be the top news story .... and Android sales would be obliterated. Today .... aside from the tech news sites and blogs .... no one cares.
More News On Chinese Spyware Found On 700 Million Android Phones
Chinese-authored spyware found on more than 700 million Android phones -- Cyber Scoop
[Updated] Security firm reportedly finds spyware on Chinese Android phones, including Blu devices sold in the US -- Android Police
Chinese spyware found on 700 million Android phones -- World Tribune
What You Need To Know About Your Smartphone Spying On You For China? -- iTechPost
5 comments:
Somewhere in China an operative struggles with an unusual intel problem. Why is an ex so and so in Texas who seems to be a promising intel target does internet searches on "the traditional colors of Latvian midget weddings, the history of military uses of the moldavian mandolins, and of course the most sinister of them all, underground tap dancing clubs in Patagonia.
It's not only the receiver, but the transmission also.
save work and money--let our snoops share stuff with their snoops and split the total phones they spy on to cut work load.
Fred,
You may be on to something here. We are all fighting ISIS. Sharing intel would certainly make the job of defeating ISIS far less cumbersome and tome consuming.
Also, Tawain is Chinese and will be regardless what anyone says or thinks. By sharing intel we nay be able to assist the Chinese in speeding up this process. In turn, we could possibly procure their assistance in areas of vital importance to us.
Similar deals could probably be worked out with Russia. It may not be pretty but rwality often isn't pretty. Unfortunately ignoring or denying reality is generally even uglier tgan reality itself often is.
This is not surprising, this what happens when you ship your industry overseas, to a competitor.
I've been using Kaspersky security for a number of years, and I'd recommend this solution to you all.
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