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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday January 12 2020, @11:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the pre-owned dept.

Chinese Malware Found Preinstalled on US Government-Funded Phones:

Budget Android smartphones offered through a US government initiative for low-income Americans come with preinstalled, unremovable Chinese malware, researchers report.

These low-cost smartphones are sold by Assurance Wireless, a federal Lifeline Assistance program under Virgin Mobile. Lifeline, supported by the federal Universal Service Fund, is a government program launched in 1985 to provide discounted phone service to low-income households. The Unimax (UMX) U686CL ($35) is the most inexpensive smartphone it sells.

In October 2019, Malwarebytes began to receive complaints in its support system from users of the UMX U686CL who reported some pre-installed apps on their government-funded phones were malicious. Researchers purchased one of these smartphones to verify customers' claims.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Monday January 13 2020, @02:15PM (1 child)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday January 13 2020, @02:15PM (#942730)

    The reason that it switched from land lines to cell phones under Obama was that the administration found that giving cell phones rather than land lines was both cheaper for the government and easier to administer. For instance, if the person needing the phone moved, you don't need somebody who was getting paid to notify the phone company and potentially arrange for two work orders, they just take their phone with them. Damn Democrats, trying to cut down on government bloat and waste!

    My suspicion is that the stories regarding Obamaphones told in right-wing circles had a lot more to do with perpetuating racist stereotypes than they did with anything resembling reality.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 14 2020, @12:56AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 14 2020, @12:56AM (#942927)

    Yeah, well, maybe - but "welfare queen" isn't a race.