Mobile ‘Rootkit’ Maker Tries to Silence Critical Android Dev
A data-logging software company is seeking to squash an Android developer’s critical research into its software that is secretly installed on millions of phones, but Trevor Eckhart is refusing to publicly apologize for his research and remove the company’s training manuals from his website.
Though the software is installed on millions of Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones, Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until the 25-year-old Eckhart analyzed its workings, recently revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience, from its apps, battery life and texts. Some carriers prevent users who actually find the software from controlling what information is sent.
Eckhart called the software a “rootkit,” a security term that refers to software installed at a low-level on a device, without a user’s consent or knowledge in order to secretly intercept the device’s workings. Malware such as keyloggers and trojans are two examples.
He also mirrored the Mountain View, Calif. company’s training manuals he’d found on Carrier IQ’s publicly available website. The manuals provide a limited roadmap for how Carrier IQ works, Eckhart said in a telephone interview.
MORE HERE - www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/rootkit-brouhaha/
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