Go, and never darken my towels again - Groucho Marx
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RIM advises Blackberry owners to disable Javascript
CANADIAN SMARTPHONE MAKER Research in Motion (RIM) is advising Blackberry owners to disable Javascript in the Blackberry web browser, if they want protection against a publicly known security hole that was revealed at last week's Pwn2Own hacking contest.
The Blackberry Torch 9800 was hacked by a team who took advantage of a vulnerability in the Webkit engine used in the BlackBerry web browser. Google Chrome also uses Webkit, but Google fixed the same flaw last week in a software update.
The vulnerability leaves users open to a remote code execution attack, where a user browses a malicious website that a hacker has created. The resulting exploit could allow an attacker to access the data stored on a Blackberry handset's media card and its built-in media storage.
RIM said that although the exploit and vulnerability are publicly known due to Pwn2Own, there's no evidence that it has been exploited on a Blackberry device outside of a test environment.
Anyone worried about falling victim to this kind of attack is advised to disable Javascript. Unfortunately, this will make the Blackberry web browsing experience more painful than it already is, and will impact the user's ability to view webpages.
If you're a Blackberry user administrator, there are also ways to disable Javascript support on all Blackberry smartphones, as well as to disable the Blackberry web browser completely. µ
Tags: Security
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Isn't it strange that the same suggestion given about solving sooooooo many of the 'Windows Feature' problems, is now what BlackBerry is coming up with.
This, while the Just Released Adobe software (seemingly all of them) are having 'another windows moment' with a 'fix' coming next week... maybe, sorta...
Believe me, I understand how hard it is to write complex software, that runs without problems on so many other softwares interdependencies....
I don't understand, why these security problems are not taken into account, before they design the software (and you can not come close to convincing me, that they do)...
When there is no paucity of information that there are problems, and EXACTLY where they are and what causes them....
And yet, every time a big buggaboo shows up.... The same initial solution is 'Disable JavaScript'...
You ever diable JavaScript and try to surf the net??
what do you mean by "more painful than it already is", looks like you never used the browser on a torch device. And just so you know this bug also affects iPhone found on the same competition. You seem to be another ifan who doesnt have facts to talk