[bbaddict3104]

xx to tt
Etisalat�s BlackBerry patch designed for surveillance


Last week, Etisalat told its 100,000 BlackBerry subscribers that a "performance enhancement patch" would be sent to them to "provide the best BlackBerry service and ultimate experience". But users who downloaded the software complained of dramatically reduced battery life and slower than usual performance of their devices.

...once installed, it potentially gives Etisalat the power to view all emails and text messages sent from the BlackBerry.

It�s time for Etisalat to explain spyware fiasco

At the end of June, Etisalat asked its customers using Blackberry devices to download a "network improvement patch." Many did. Shortly thereafter, their Blackberrys ceased to work. Investigating the malfunction, computer experts discovered that the patch did not improve network performance.


"We did thorough analysis at our global threat centre. No doubt about it, it was intended to intercept people's emails and forward them on to someone else."

In fact, Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM) which actually makes Blackberrys was so alarmed by Etisalat's claims that the patch was intended to enhance performance that it put out a strongly worded statement, distancing itself from the UAE's largest telecom company.

"It is not a RIM authorised upgrade. Independent sources have concluded that the Etisalat update is not designed to improve performance of your Blackberry, but rather to send received messages back to a central server... In this case, Etisalat appears to have distributed a telecommunications surveillance system," the statement said.

Etisalat had originally claimed that the patch was "required for service enhancements particularly for issues identified related to the handover between 2G to 3G network coverage areas", but RIM would have none of it.

The RIM statement says flatly: "In general terms, a third-party patch cannot provide any enhancements to network services as there is no capability for third parties to develop or modify the low-level radio communications protocols that would be involved in making such improvements."



so what do you guys think? came across this and didn't see a thread on this. but this come across one that talked about the update slowing down their phones


p.s can't post links til i have 10 posts so i will post 9 more times and update post with links.

[pbflash]

There's been a few posts on this:

http://forums.crackberry.com/f40/cra...e-read-267259/

http://forums.crackberry.com/f83/per...-batch-262162/

http://forums.crackberry.com/f83/nic...spyware-268961

[bbaddict3104]

i see i see. but it doesn't seem like much know about it.

theres 100,000 users and the largest thread has been 2 pages you know.