HTC on Tuesday confirmed that a security vulnerability exists on their Smartphones that allows any app requesting internet access to look at a users account information, GPS location, system logs and other potentially private data.
The manufacturer assured customers that while their own software won’t harm user data they have warned that third party malware could exploit the security flaw and cause information to be stolen.
HTC programmers are already building a patch for the flaw and they promise that an over-the-air patch update will arrive as soon as possible.
Here’s the official security statement from HTC :
HTC takes claims related to the security of our products very seriously. In our ongoing investigation into this recent claim, we have concluded that while this HTC software itself does no harm to customers’ data, there is a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application. A third party malware app exploiting this or any other vulnerability would potentially be acting in violation of civil and criminal laws. So far, we have not learned of any customers being affected in this way and would like to prevent it by making sure all customers are aware of this potential vulnerability.
HTC is working very diligently to quickly release a security update that will resolve the issue on affected devices. Following a short testing period by our carrier partners, the patch will be sent over-the-air to customers, who will be notified to download and install it. We urge all users to install the update promptly. During this time, as always, we strongly urge customers to use caution when downloading, using, installing and updating applications from untrusted sources.
Customers are urged to avoid non-trusted apps until the patch is made available and installed.