Chinese handset vendor, ZTE admits to security hole in Score
21 May 2012
ZTE, the world's No 4 handset vendor and one of two Chinese companies under the radar of US agencies over security concerns, said one of its mobile phone models sold in the US contained a vulnerability that researchers say, could allow others to control the device.
The hole affects ZTE's Score model running on Google's Android operating system which one researcher found "highly unusual."
According to Dmitri Alperovtich, co-founder of a cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said, the hole, usually referred to as a backdoor, allowed anyone with the hardwired password to access the affected phone.
ZTE and fellow Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer, Huawei Technologies, have seen their efforts to expand in the US frustrated on concerns they were linked to the Chinese government, though both companies had denied this.
Concerns have mostly centered around fears of backdoors or other security vulnerabilities in telecommunications infrastructure equipment rather than in consumer devices.
Last month a US congressional panel had pointedly referred to Huawei and ZTE by approving a measure designed to examine technology produced by the two companies.
