[SprintTour155]

You guys have probably seen these articles floating around for the last few weeks, im not a pro on BB's by any means but have used smartphones for years and wanted to see what everyone thought about this..

Basically they are talking about a trojan (what they use on computers) for your phone. The attacker can turn on your camera to see what your doing, microphone, check out texts and listen in on phone conversations. One article said they call the malware "rootkit". When i first read the articles this was not new news at all, these things have been out for a while......or am i wrong?

My question is, can these things get on there without your knowledge? Obviously if you are downloading things you dont know about it can contain malware, or if an ex boyfriend or something wants to keep tabs he can take the phone and install this software. The article was about a lady where her ex was stalking her, she changed her number but kept the device (all she needed to do was a wipe it out) and he would listen to everything.

Is that easy to get these "programs" or do they come in other forms?

[Reed McLay]

Where there is a market, somebody will develop an application to suit that market.

When I first became aware of spy software I Googled for more information. Such products do exist, fortunately they are not cheap and it is not possible to install them without direct access to the device.

They are intended to remain hidden, but in order to do their dirty work they have maintain a remote server connection. That is the Achilles heal, enabling the firewall will force an error that can be spotted.

[SprintTour155]

Where there is a market, somebody will develop an application to suit that market.

When I first became aware of spy software I Googled for more information. Such products do exist, fortunately they are not cheap and it is not possible to install them without direct access to the device.

They are intended to remain hidden, but in order to do their dirty work they have maintain a remote server connection. That is the Achilles heal, enabling the firewall will force an error that can be spotted.

Isnt the firewall always "on" with a BBerry? Thats why it tells you when applications want to access the internet?

[Reed McLay]

Sorry, I may not have been clear on the technique.

If you have reason to suspect your BlackBerry has spyware installed:

Options / Security Options / Firewall: Enabled. Select BlackBerry Internet Service to be blocked.

This will prevent any Internet communications and is reported to force an error from the spyware.