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BLU Products Faces Lawsuit over Backdoor Found on Its Smartphones

The company has since patched the security issue

Nov 26, 2016 05:44 GMT  ·  By
Android security
   Android security

It looks like the BLU Products saga isn't over yet, as the US-based company is now facing a lawsuit over the backdoor that was discovered on its smartphones last week.

For those of you who don't remember, security contractors found 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.

As we reported last week, the software was specifically designed to send all the information to China every 72 hours.

The secret software was developed by a Chinese company called Shangai Adups Technology and, according to its officials, it runs on more than 700 million phones worldwide.

Soon after the backdoor was discovered, BLU Products announced that no less than 120,000 of its Android smartphones were affected by the issue. As such, the company released an update that removed the malicious software from its phones.

Now, Rosen Lega, a company specialized in class action lawsuits posted a “security alert” warning consumers about the backdoor and letting them know that they can participate in the investigation and the lawsuit.

Not all BLU smartphones were affected by the issue

Those who wish to be part of this lawsuit must first determine whether or not their BLU smartphone was affected by the backdoor issue. Here is how they can do that:

“You can check to see if your Blu Products phone was affected by going to the Settings Menu in Android, selecting ‘Apps,’ followed by ‘Show System’ and then ‘Wireless Update.’ If your version of Wireless Update is from 5.0.x to 5.3.x, or above, you phone was affected and you may be a member of the class action.”

In reply to Rosen Lega's initiative, BLU Products issued a statement that reiterates the fact that this is a non issue and that there’s no “wrong doing from BLU to warrant any such claim.”

According to the US company, since no customer suffered any damages, Rosen Lega is just a “typical knee jerk ambulance chaser who dismisses details and is uneducated on the subject.”