Over the past couple of days a report has been making the rounds about a software called Adups on entry-level devices sending data from phones to China. The backdoor software as it’s been referred to was discovered by Kryptowire, and was said to be on a fairly large number of Android handsets in various locations, potentially reaching an amount of 700 million different Android-powered smartphones. While some manufacturers, such as BLU, had already acknowledged yesterday that a number of their phones had been affected, but also dealt with through a software update, other manufacturers were simply mentioned, including OEMs like ZTE and Huawei. Today, ZTE USA has confirmed that none of their phones in the U.S. have been affected by the Adups software.
To recap, the Adups software is developed by a company in China called Shanghai Adups Technology Company, and was reportedly sending data to servers in China that included information such as location and text messages. In a statement from ZTE, the company mentions that no U.S. ZTE devices “have ever had the Adups software installed on them, and will not.” ZTE followed this statement up by pointing out that they take security and privacy very seriously and that it is and always will be a leading priority for them.
For those who own ZTE devices in the U.S., this should bring some peace of mind as security and privacy of personal data has never been more important, and that is made especially true by the fact that for many individuals, their smartphones are their most used tool whether it be for communication, banking, shopping or any other number of activities and tasks. This revelation is good news for ZTE device owners, but there has so far been no mention from Huawei on whether or not any of their devices had actually been affected, or what they plan to do about it if they were. Having said that, chances are that they could take the same route as BLU and issue a software update to users which gets rid of the Adups software on devices. Again, though, that is provided that Huawei devices did in fact have the Adups software installed.