[dba-Tech] Major security hole claimed in some HTC Android phones

You would think it would be bad enough when there is a revelation that there is a major security hole in your phones that exposes pretty much everything, including contacts, phone history, SMS messages, emails, system logs, GPS locations, and pretty much anything else that matters to any app, by simply giving it internet permissions, which all apps require these days anyhow.

The only thing that could possibly make it worse is the revelation that this security hole exists as a consequence of a vulnerability in a key logger and a remote access server (VNC, similar to remote desktop) that HTC bundles with these Android phones of theirs.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/10/01/massive-security-vulnerability-in-htc-android-devices-evo-3d-4g-thunderbolt-others-exposes-phone-numbers-gps-sms-emails-addresses-much-more/

To Android users out there, just as it is generally a good idea to re-install Windows from scratch on OEM PCs, it seems it is also a good idea in terms of security to stop trusting the pre-installed Android OS you get with the phone and install your own firmware (ie. http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ ).


- Hans