Back in the days we used to have bugs, malwares and virus troubles with our computers and they were fairly easier to deal with. The massive development in mobile technology over the years have open new portals to attackers. Currently the term “mobile phone security” has become a running joke. There are bugs, glitches, malwares and breaches that are continuously assaulting us thus putting our personal information at risk.
Recently security outfit Kryptowire raised the alarm on Chinese company Adups for using preinstalled apps on android devices to spy on users. The devices in question were Blu smartphones which were transmitting call logs, text messages and other data every 72 hours to China. Adups is a company that facilitates over-the-air updates for mobile devices so its firmware is preinstalled on a lot of devices. However, the said firmware can snoop around the phone without user ever knowing.
Another digital security firm Trustlook did deeper enquiry on what devices utilize Adups firmware and the list is absolutely massive. Trustlook says that currently over 700 million Android smartphones have Adups firmware installed that puts every single user at the risk of having their contacts, text messages, call histories and device information collected without their knowledge.
Most of the manufacturers who utilize Adups are smaller companies who only releases their products in Asia. Which puts India at huge risk considering the fact that it is one of the biggest market in the whole Asia. However, the dreaded list also had notable names including Lenovo, ZTE and obviously Blu.
Blu R1 HD was the very first device found to be relaying sensitive information to Adups back in China. Even though Blue took action to halt the app’s nefarious actions there are dozens and dozens of manufacturers who are on the list to do the same.
The best course of action to protect your personal info right now seems to be keeping your phone as updated as possible. Google releases security patches every month so it is advisable to install those patches immediately.
If you want to find out whether your smartphone is affected by Adups Spyware, you can download Trustlooks Antivirus and Mobile security app on your smartphone and scan for it!
Check out our video on the same!