Lifeline Assistance Phone Users Targeted with 'Uninstallable' Adware

Government-funded, low-cost cell phones are shipping with pre-installed malware aimed at bombing users with unwanted ads, according to researchers. The UMX U686CL Android-based phone, which is made available to low-income citizens in the U.S. via the Lifeline Assistance Program for $35, uses a...

Phone Maker BLU Settles with FTC Over Unauthorized User Data Extraction

Android phone-maker BLU Products agreed to a proposed settlement on Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission, over allegations it allowed the third-party firm Adups Technology to collect detailed consumer data from users without their consent. In an administrative complaint filed earlier this we...

Down the Rabbit Hole with a BLU Phone Infection

When network administrator James Lockmuller bought 11 dirt-cheap Android phones via Amazon he thought he had a perfect solution for communicating with his warehouse team stretched across a 73,000 square-foot campus. He installed only Skype on the devices and planned to use the $50 BLU Studio X8 H...

Amazon Halts Sale of Android Blu Phone Amid Spyware Concerns

Android phone maker Blu Products was dealt a blow Monday when Amazon said it would no longer sell its phones, citing security and privacy issues. The phone maker came under scrutiny last week by researchers at Kryptowire during a Black Hat session where they criticized the company for collecting...

Backdoor Found in Firmware of Some Android Devices

Nearly three million Android devices are vulnerable to an attack that could allow a hacker to compromise over-the-air OTA updates to the devices and allow adversaries to remotely execute commands with root privileges. The problem stems from what researchers call an insecure implementation of an O...