Blackberry alert

Jul 23 2009 By The Journal

AN update for Blackberry users in the United Arab Emirates could allow unauthorised access to private information and emails.

The update was prompted by a text from UAE telecoms firm Etisalat, suggesting it would improve performance. Instead, the update resulted in crashes or drastically-reduced battery life.

Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) said in a statement the update was not authorised, developed or tested by RIM.

Etisalat is a major tele- communications firm based in the UAE, with 145,000 Blackberry users on its books.

In the statement, RIM told customers that "Etisalat appears to have distributed a tele- communications surveillance application. Independent sources have concluded that it is possible that the installed software could then enable unauthorised access to private or confidential information stored on the user’s smartphone".

It added that "independent sources have concluded that the Etisalat update is not designed to improve performance of your BlackBerry Handheld, but rather to send received messages back to a central server".

After downloading the update, users noticed reduced battery life and poor reception.

Etislat issued a statement last week, calling the problem a slight technical fault, saying that the upgrades were required for service enhancements.