Pete Bennett purchased BLU Phone from Fry's Electronics in Concord
California (Closed) and sim card for T-mobile prepaid. The phone didn't
last long but during usage Bennett experienced strange issues with
volume, unusual bursts of latentcy with moments of freezing, page lock
severe volumne issues.
The Hacking Stories
T-Mobile – Sprint Supplemental Protective Order
Full Title: Applications of T-Mobile US,
Inc. and Sprint Corporation Consolidated Applications for
Consent To Transfer Control of Licenses and Authorizations
Document Type(s): Order
Bureau(s): Wireless Telecommunications
Description:
T-Mobile – Sprint Supplemental Protective Order
Pompeo warns governors of Chinese infiltration into US: 'It's happening in your state'
Create a responsive video and scale it nicely to the parent element with an 16:9 aspect ratio
China's Communist Party has infiltrated various levels of America's infrastructure and is working to destroy the values of the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a speech Saturday, while also warning state governors to be wary of China's infiltration.
“We can’t ignore China’s actions and strategic intentions," he said while addressing the National Governors Association winter meeting. "The Chinese government has been methodical in the way it's analyzed our system... it's assessed our vulnerabilities and it's decided to exploit our freedoms, to gain an advantage over us at the federal level, the state level and the local level."
“Competition with China is happening. It’s happening in your state," Pompeo added. "In fact, I'd be surprised if most of you in the audience had not been lobbied by the Chinese Communist Party directly."
He said groups loyal to communist China are operating out in the open in Virginia, Minnesota, Florida and dozens of other states all around the country. Other Chinese groups, however, practice their nefarious actions in the shadows in an attempt to exercise influence over U.S. citizens and lawmakers.
Pompeo cited a letter from a diplomat at the Chinese Consul in New York to the speaker of an unnamed state legislature, advising that U.S. officials refrain from independent interaction with Taiwan.
“You add a diplomat from China, assigned here to the United States, a representative of the Chinese Communist Party, in New York City, sending a letter urging that an American elected official shouldn’t exercise his right to freedom of speech," he explained.
The secretary said this isn't an uncommon event and that Chinese officials based in the U.S. are actively seeking to sow seeds of chaos at the state and local level -- specifically in the realm of education on college campuses and K-12 classrooms.
“Maybe some of you have heard about the time when the Chinese consulate paid the UC San Diego students to protest the Dalai Lama," he continued. “It shows depth. It shows systemization. It shows intent.”
He added: “Chinese Communist party officials, too, are cultivating relationships with county school boards and local politicians -- Often through what are known as 'Sister City Programs' ... This competition is well underway."
Pompeo also spoke about China's campaign to recruit U.S. scientists and academics to share vital secrets, in exchange for monetary gain through their "Thousand Talents Plan," a campaign that has already targeted scientists and professors on campuses such as Virginia Tech and Harvard and triggered investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
He also explained how Beijing pressures Chinese students in the U.S. to keep an eye on their fellow countrymen and report back to the government about their activities.
"China’s propaganda starts even earlier than college. China has targeted K-12 schools around the world," he said. "Do you know that we have no ability to establish similar programs in China? We should have reciprocity in all things. Today they have free reign in our system and we're completely shut out from theirs... Beijing knows that today’s kids are tomorrow’s leaders."
Pompeo then warned state governors about doing business with China and said it is common to indirectly finance communism without realizing it. He then extended the hand of the federal government and said the Trump administration is standing by, ready to help states with this growing problem.
“I want to urge vigilance on the local level too," he said. "It’s worth trusting but verifying. There are federal officials prepared to help you work your way through these challenges when they arise. Don’t make separate individual deals that undermine our national policy. I know none of you would do so intentionally. Let us help you."
“I hope you will all take on board what I've said today," Pompeo added. "Don’t lose sight of the competition from China that's already present in your state. Let's all rise to the occasion and protect our security, our economy, indeed all that we hold dear."
Nick Givas is a reporter with Fox News. You can find him on Twitter at @NGivasDC.
Do you own an Android smartphone? You could be one of those
700 Million users whose phone is secretly sending text
messages to China every 72 hours.
You heard that right. Over 700 Million Android smartphones
contain a secret 'backdoor' that surreptitiously sends all
your text messages, call log, contact list, location
history, and app data to China every 72 hours.
Security researchers from Kryptowire discovered the alleged backdoor hidden in the firmware of many
budget Android smartphones sold in the United States, which
covertly gathers data on phone owners and sends it to a
Chinese server without users knowing.
First reported on by the New York Times on Tuesday, the backdoored firmware software is developed by China-based company Shanghai AdUps
Technology, which claims that its software runs updates for
more than 700 Million devices worldwide.
Infected Android Smartphone WorldWide
Moreover, it is worth noting that AdUps provides its
software to much larger handset manufacturers, such as ZTE
and Huawei, which sell their Android phones worldwide,
across over 150 countries and regions.
Besides sniffing SMS message content, contact lists, call
logs, location data and other personal user information and
automatically sending them to AdUps every 72 hours, AdUps'
software also has the capability to remotely install and
update applications on a smartphone.
The secret backdoor is said to be there intentionally and not accidently
or due to a security flaw, although, according to the US
authorities, at the moment it is unclear whether the data is
being collected for advertising purposes or government
surveillance.
Kryptowire says the company discovered the secret
backdoor on the BLU R1 HD device sold by Florida-based smartphone manufacturer BLU
Products, which sells its devices in the U.S., and some
other countries from South America, online through Amazon
and Best Buy.
Massive Amount of Users' Data Sent to Chinese Servers
Based on the received commands, the security firm found the
software executing multiple operations, detailed below:
Collect and Send SMS texts to AdUps' server every 72
hours.
Collect and Send call logs to AdUps' server every 72
hours.
Collect and Send user personally identifiable
information (PII) to AdUps' server every 24 hours.
Collect and Send the smartphone's IMSI and IMEI
identifiers.
Collect and Send geolocation information.
Collect and Send a list of apps installed on the user's
device.
Download and Install apps without the user's consent or
knowledge.
Update or Remove apps.
Update the phone's firmware and Re-program the device.
Execute remote commands with elevated privileges on the
user's device.
No, Users Can't Disable or Remove the Backdoor
The backdoor has been discovered in two system applications
– com.adups.fota.sysoper and com.adups.fota – neither of which can be disabled or removed by the
user.
On contacting, BLU Products confirmed that approximately
120,000 of its smartphones have the AdUps' software
installed, which is being removed from its devices.
"BLU Products has identified and has quickly removed a
recent security issue caused by a third-party application
which had been collecting unauthorized personal data in
the form of text messages, call logs, and contacts from
customers using a limited number of BLU mobile devices,"
the company said in a statement.
"Our customer's privacy and security are of the upmost
(sic) importance and priority. The affected application
has since been self-updated, and the functionality
verified to be no longer collecting or sending this
information."
Besides BLU Products, Kryptowire immediately notified
Google, AdUps, as well as Amazon, which is the exclusive
retailer of the BLU R1 HD, of its findings.
Google also issued a statement saying that the company is
working with all affected parties to patch the issue, though
the tech giant said that it doesn't know how widely AdUps
distributed its software.
However, According to AdUps, its software featured on the
smartphone tested by the security firm was not intended to
be included on smartphones in the United States market and
was just designed to help Chinese phone manufacturers to
monitor user behavior.
Update: A spokesperson for ZTE USA provided The Hacker News an
official statement from the company, which reads:
"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."
