CoolReaper Backdoor Found On CoolPad Android Mobile Devices

A popular Android smartphone sold primarily in China and Taiwan but also available worldwide, contains a backdoor from the manufacturer that is being used to push pop-up advertisements and install apps without users’ consent. The Coolpad devices, however, are ripe for much more malicious abuse,...

Carrier IQ Hires a Chief Privacy Officer

Carrier IQ, a startup heavily bruised last fall by harsh criticism of its handset diagnostic software, today announced it’s hired a high-profile lawyer as its Chief Privacy Officer. According to a news release, Magnolia Mansourkia Mobley, a CIPP and former Verizon executive, will be tasked with...

The Appropriately Hyped Stories of 2011

It’s that most un-wonderful time of the year: the time when everyone writes fluffy articles full of lists, retrospectives and look-aheads. Even we did it. Many of these lists involve some variation on the theme of most overhyped or least organic or or most awesomest or lowest fat content. This...

Sprint Disables Carrier IQ Software On Its Devices

Sprint has decided to stop using Carrier IQ’s diagnostic software in light of the ongoing controversy about user privacy, according to reports. A Sprint spokesperson told the Website MobileBurn that the carrier has “weighed customer concerns and…disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic...

With Mobile Devices, Users Are the Product, Not the Buyer

A lot has been said about the Carrier IQ software, the way that it’s used by carriers and whether it’s capable of intercepting calls, texts and data on users’ handsets. It’s still not clear exactly what’s going on, but one lesson that has emerged from all of this is this: The mobile devices peopl...

Tools Emerge to Detect Carrier IQ App

As the situation involving Carrier IQ continues to evolve and users become more aware of the software and its capabilities, a couple of tools designed to detect the application’s presence on mobile devices have emerged. Mobile-security vendor Lookout has developed an Android app that can detect...

Researchers Say Carrier IQ Not Logging Texts or Emails, But Has Some Worrisome Capabilities

Security researchers who have investigated the inner workings of the Carrier IQ software and its capabilities say that the application has some powerful, and potentially worrisome capabilities, but that as it’s currently deployed by carriers it doesn’t have the ability to record SMS messages, pho...

Carrier IQ Controversy Spawns Lawsuits

The ongoing controversy about Carrier IQ’s software has now entered the courts. Mobile phone users around the country have filed a number of lawsuits in response to allegations that Carrier IQ’s software tracks consumers illegally. Among these suits is a class action filed in California against...

Voodoo Carrier IQ detector application released for Android

Voodoo Carrier IQ detector application released forAndroid An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn't just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there's nothing you can do about it. A new...

Voodoo Carrier IQ detector application released for Android

Voodoo Carrier IQ detector application released for Android An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn't just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there's nothing you can do about it. A new...

Sen. Franken Demands Answers From Carrier IQ on Mobile Tracking

The fallout from the controversy surrounding the presence of Carrier IQ’s software on millions of mobile devices on several different platforms has now reached Washington. Sen. Al Franken on Thursday sent a letter to the company, demanding answers to a series of questions about the software and i...

Demo of the Carrier IQ Agent on Android

Security researcher Trevor Eckhart discovered that many Android devices come pre-loaded with a piece of software made by Carrier IQ. In this video, he demonstrates how the software works and what it’s capable of monitoring. It’s since been revealed that versions of the app may have been on other...

Your Android Phone is Spying On You, Use custom ROM To Protect your Privacy

Your Android Phone is Spying On You, Use custom ROM To Protect your Privacy In this digital age, privacy is more important than ever. Just because you "don't have anything to hide," does not mean that you shouldn't value your privacy or fight for it when companies do things like this, especially...

Your Android Phone is Spying On You, Use custom ROM To Protect your Privacy

Your Android Phone is Spying On You, Use custom ROM To Protect your Privacy In this digital age, privacy is more important than ever. Just because you "don't have anything to hide," does not mean that you shouldn't value your privacy or fight for it when companies do things like this, especially...