14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like at least one handset manufacturer present on the United States market has serious security issues if we are to believe the latest reports coming from American authorities.
BLU Products, one of the companies that sell Android smartphones in the United States and some other countries from South America, had around 120,000 of its devices affected by a security exploit that could presumably send all text messages to China.
Security contractors have recently discovered a backdoor in the form of pre-installed software that monitors the location of the smartphone's user, as well as whom they talk to and what they write in their text messages.
The said software then sends all the information to China every 72 hours. The secret software has been developed by a Chinese company called Shangai Adups Technology and, according to its officials, it runs on more than 700 million phones worldwide.
So, the problem is not limited to those 120,000 Android smartphones launched by BLU Products in the United States after all.
Furthermore, the security company that found the backdoor, Kryptowire, claims that Adups software transmitted the full contents of text messages, contact lists, call logs, location information and other data directly to a Chinese server, The New York Times reports.
Handset makers aren't even aware of the backdoor on their phones
According to Adups officials, the software was designed to help Chinese phone manufacturers to monitor user behavior. Also, the company claims that the version of software found in BLU smartphones was not intended for U.S. phones.
In the meantime, BLU Products removed the secret software from within their smartphones as soon as they were informed by the security contractors.
According to BLU's chief exec Samuel Ohev-Zion, the presence of the backdoor was something they weren't aware of, which is why they have moved very quickly to remove it.
It's also worth mentioning that Chinese company Adups provides software to much larger handset makers like ZTE and Huawei, which sell their Android smartphones worldwide, not just in China.
UPDATE: We've been approached by ZTE USA, so here is their official statement: “We confirm that no ZTE devices in the U.S. have ever had the Adups software cited in recent news reports installed on them, and will not. ZTE always makes security and privacy a top priority for our customers. We will continue to ensure customer privacy and information remain protected.”