RIM, maker of the BlackBerry mobile phone, has told the Reg that Etisalat is talking tosh and the BlackBerry remains a secure platform, after the United Arab Emirates operator "patched" the device with surveillance software. The "patch" which Etisalat sent out last week was actually a surveillance application, designed to make …

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Tuesday 21st July 2009 14:25 GMT Anonymous Coward

Finger of Blame

From the BBC website:

"The update has now been identified as an application developed by American firm SS8. The California-based company describes itself as a provider of "lawful electronic intercept and surveillance solutions". "

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Tuesday 21st July 2009 14:59 GMT Anonymous Coward

Hey ,seems that doing business in...

UAE is pretty dangerous stuff, especially if you happen to deal with this member of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi's family;

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6201333.ece

No wonder they want to snoop on everyone ,find out where they are and torture them maybe ,lol. By the way, Etisalat is Government owned of course, at the end of any trail they may have laid down.

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Tuesday 21st July 2009 16:02 GMT amanfromMars 1

Information is Power and Things have Changed recently?

Snooping and Spying on Targets of Interest is Perfectly Normal for those with a Lack of Intelligence. It has been Man's Default since ....well, even before he was born is a long time ago and that's when it probably started.

What is different in this Instantly Connected and Connecting Age, is that to Spontaneously Share Information which may be considered Market Sensitive and Secret to Some but Eminently Marketable and Sublime Thoughts to Others, has those with Novel Thinking Leading those into Phishing/Snooping/Spying into Areas in which they are out of their Depth and their Inaction in Silent Running would be Proof Positive of the Fact confirming the Lead Position of what would then be considered New Information and Greater Intelligence.

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Tuesday 21st July 2009 20:06 GMT Anonymous Coward

@ Anonymous Coward 14:48

lol? this is a serious website with serious news, and playmobile, there is no room for stupied acronyms

now stfu and please gtfo

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Tuesday 21st July 2009 20:06 GMT 3BEPOTEKCT

</constitutions>

"Targets of Interest" - what if someone thinks he knows the real targets that must immediately become the ones of interest of top services worldwide? Or how the world gov may be estimated?

Easily, as reported (-; in two uneasy steps, rapidly and fatally damaging the karma of the responsible persons. PROBLEM 2012: MORE TO BLAME KILLER SUN OR POLAR NUKEKNOCK?

I/we/other also have an absolutely crazy msg for some of the Reggers, hr it is:

COSMIC RCMD INT TO RESP SUB NO 0-0 EXEC SHMN PWN CRD LST CHC 55 73

Deletionists will... err, it won't already matter.

73

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Wednesday 22nd July 2009 01:09 GMT James 55

@http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/21/etisalat_blackberry_snooping_again/comments/#c_543054

-What?

I wonder who they were targeting. They probably knew that it wouldn't last long but wanted to sting someone planning to stick one to the Abu Dhabi rulers.

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Wednesday 22nd July 2009 01:09 GMT Anonymous Coward

Etisalat wanted what RIM already have

Etisalat diverted their users' traffic to themselves so they could have a look at it. As Blackberry users' traffic always goes via RIM, they can have good look at everything without the need for any patches.

Worse still, every Blackberry Enterprise Server permanently maintains an encrypted outgoing pipe to RIM. Connections can be made inward to the BES and beyond through that pipe (it's just a VPN really). Those people who have placed the BES amongst their internal servers (as RIM suggest) have potentially allowed RIM access to those servers and the information they contain....

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Tuesday 28th July 2009 21:21 GMT Steve Bush

Bugged Club Tables in Dubai

In the "fictional" novel "Dubai" published maybe 30 years ago all the tables in the only decent club/restaurant in the city at that time and which was therefore where a lot of business was talked over were bugged. Apart from the novel, in real life for many years there was gossip that all the (mandatory government supplied) telephones were microphones too. A pattern is forming.

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