Unprecedented level of spying on consumers using Android and Apple smart phones

If you use an Android, BlackBerry, or Nokia smartphone then you may be at risk of being illegally wire-tapped by Carrier IQ--a provider of performance monitoring software for smartphones--according to reports.

Earlier this month, security researcher Trevor Eckhart announced that he found software made by Carrier IQ that may be logging your every move on your mobile phone. Trevor referred to it as a "rootkit", a piece of software that hides itself while utilizing privileged access like watching your every move. Carrier IQ didn't take too kindly to this accusation, and responded aggressively with a cease-and-desist letter, and went on to deny this accusation. However, to further back his accusation, Eckhart released a video that he says shows the software in action.



In the video, Eckhart shows that Carrier IQ is also logging Web searches. While this doesn't sound all that bad by itself, it suggests that Carrier IQ is logging what happens during an HTTPS connection which is supposed to be encrypted information. Additionally, it can do this over a Wi-Fi connection with no 3G, so even if your phone service is disconnected, IQRD still logs the information.

References to data logging software Carrier IQ have been found on Apple’s iOS

1st December 2011 by Aayush Arya

Given Apple’s much more closed ecosystem and tighter control over both the hardware and software of its phones, and its famed refusal to let the carriers dictate what comes preinstalled on an iPhone, it had seemed unlikely that its operating system would have any traces of Carrier IQ’s software, but that has turned out to not be the case.

Quite scary.

Identify exactly how your customers interact with services and which ones they use. See which content they consume, even offline.

Morisy speculates that "What is still unclear is whether the FBI used Carrier IQ's software in its own investigations, whether it is currently investigating Carrier IQ, or whether it is some combination of both—not unlikely given the recent uproar over the practice coupled with the US intelligence communities reliance on third-party vendors. The response would seem to indicate at least the former, since the request was specifically for documents related directly to accessing and analyzing Carrier IQ data."

Google recently removed 22 applications from the Android Market on suspicion of being malware. The apps in question, spotted by security firm Lookout, mainly targeted Android smartphone users across Europe and included premium SMS fraud services that cost users money. The main culprit was called RuFraud and affected users in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Czech Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Estonia, Great Britain, Italy, Israel, France, and Germany. The malware didn't jump across the Atlantic to affect North American users.

and...

(I hope the irony is obvious to everyone here: Microsoft handing out free hardware for infected devices? C'mon, that's golden.)

One user responded: "(shamefully admitting) I fell for the Cut the Rope SMS exploit, they got me for $352.26. #droidrage #windowsphone #androidsucks."

Another said: "I've had to flash my Android phone twice because of malware. Not to mention the fragmentation issues + battery life."