“Software that collects data, present in Android devices from 43 manufacturers”

The security company Trustlook has carried out an analysis of the software of the Chinese company Adups. This was discovered in November on devices from the manufacturer BLU and sent data to servers in China. The analysis shows that 43 manufacturers use the software on their devices.

In November, security firm Kryptowire released a notice saying that Adups’ software was sending sensitive data, including contacts, text messages and conversation history, to servers in China. The company reported at the time that manufacturer BLU uses the software and that several devices have been affected. Trustlook’s research shows that a total of 43 manufacturers use the software on their devices, including well-known names such as Lenovo and ZTE.

The company has posted the full list on a dedicated page. The software would have been active for about six months, the security company said. So began to collect this data in July. The Adups software officially serves as a way to distribute firmware updates through an ota process. Adups announced after the announcement by Kryptowire that it was using the software to send out appropriate updates and fight spam. The data collection would have been an error that has since been corrected, the company said.

Manufacturer BLU has now switched to software from Google to provide users of its devices with updates, it previously announced. Kryptowire’s findings are separate from an investigation by AnubisNetworks, which in November found software from Chinese company Ragentek on 2.8 million Android devices. This showed properties of a rootkit.