BLU Android Smartphones Discontinued on Amazon Due to a Possible Malware Infection

Amazon has banned the Android smartphones of the manufacturer BLU due to concerns that they could be infected with a spyware threat. All models of BLU have been discontinued from the Amazon platform after the security researchers detected traces of the suspected malware on the company's devices for the second time.

The initial discovery that pointed at BLU devices being shipped with a pre-installed spyware came out last November. Back then, cyber security company Kryptowire detected a malicious application developed by Shanghai Adups Technology which was used to collect data from users and send it to servers located in China.

Last year, BLU acknowledged the security flaw and promised it would demand from Adups to remove the feature that caused the troubles and collected users' data. The issue seemed resolved back then after BLU decided to replace Adups OTA application with Google's GOTA on all future devices. Now, however, security experts claim that the flaw is still there as Kryptowire revealed this week at the Black Hat Conference the features that are collecting the information are still to be found on BLU devices. Moreover, the researchers said that at least three smartphone models had been confirmed to be shipping with the spyware pre-installed on them.

In its defense, BLU proclaims the accusations as "inaccurate and false reports", and adds it has already contacted several reporters to ask them to remove the supposedly misleading articles and to issue apologies. For now, BLU smartphones remain banned from Amazon website for an undetermined period of time, yet Amazon says it could lift the ban if it is clearly proven that BLU devices do not come infected with spyware.

Although BLU claims all its models are now clean, the company admits that its smartphones are still collecting and sending certain data to China. Yet, the company explains the information in question is used solely for telemetry and diagnosis, and that it is typically collected by devices of other manufacturers as well. In a press release, BLU also states that the data currently being collected corresponds to the standards of OTA basic informational reporting and is in line with the company's Privacy Policy. Thus, it does not put at risk users' security and privacy.

The company's management also addresses the issue with the storing of user information on servers located in China by saying that there is nothing wrong with that as well. The company's statements imply that Chinese servers are prone to risk just like all other servers in the world, so users should not be bothered that large manufacturers of smartphones use them. BLU also points out that its larger competitors ZTE and Huawei are among the companies that use servers located in China.