| 15 Jul 2009 |
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BlackBerry subscribers want answers
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Wednesday, Jul 15, 2009
Gulf News
Dubai: BlackBerry users who subscribe to etisalatetisalat
's services are fuming at the operator's silence on the cause of and solution to excessive battery drain caused by a recent "performance-enhancing" patch, six days after it was issued.
Since issuing a statement announcing that it is stopping the troublesome patch, etisalatetisalat has been tight lipped about the solution to the battery issues it has caused, as its customers continue in vain to look to its customer support line for help.
EtisalatEtisalat
issued a patch for BlackBerry users on July 8 which caused heating and battery depletion in some of the devices that the patch was installed on. Battery life on those devices was reduced to two to four hours, causing many to face communication disruptions.An angry BlackBerry user who did not want to be named said a customer support agent joked that excessive heating of the phone "would ensure that he does not feel cold".
A Gulf News reader, Fred, said he was worried that his device would over heat and "blow" in his face.
Gulf News reported yesterday that the battery drain was caused by communication interception software hidden in the patch.
Louie H, a Dubai resident in the mobile telecommunications industry, discovered the interceptor first on July 8 after suspecting it of having functions other than those etisalatetisalat said it had.
Upon receiving the update Louie called etisalatetisalat and was told that the patch would solve network problems that BlackBerry users had been experiencing recently.
There was no answer from SS8 to Gulf News' requests for a comment.
While network operators like etisalatetisalat can monitor text messages and conversations generally "as many do around the world", said Louie, it is impossible for them to monitor any communication that goes directly through BlackBerry's servers, such as messages on BlackBerry Messenger, the websites the user surfs or the e-mails that are sent over third party e-mail providers like Gmail. "There's nothing etisalatetisalat can do to intercept this traffic," he said. "The security factor was one of the reasons business people liked the BlackBerry."
The SS8 software, he said, provides etisalatetisalat with a backdoor that gives it access to the device and enables it to intercept communications it did not have access to before. "It's like a trojan horse," he added.
A Sharjah-based reader, HMD, said it was etisalatetisalat's responsibility to inform its customer's about the functions of the patch.
Louie agreed, saying etisalatetisalat used network problems as a "scapegoat" to install surveillance software on its subscribers' devices. "This is not what people have signed up for. When you register with them, they don't tell you that they would be monitoring you," he said.
The UAE's second mobile operator du confirmed that it "has not deployed any interception software on its customers' BlackBerry devices".
By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
© Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
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Community Comments (2)
that's what they call it MONOPOLY
thank God they were exposed.
Another article from ITP:
http://www.itp.net/news/561962-etisalats-blackberry-patch-designed-for-surveillance
I have to say that is so silly from Etisalat. A good excuse to migrate to DU. It might be worse coverage, but I would take worse coverage than a company that sends bad software patches to its customers (with hidden trojan).
I would like to know how you will get people to install any new updates from you guys.
thank God they were exposed.
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