BlackBerry says Apple iPhones and Android devices running chat software BlackBerry Messenger face an “extremely small” risk from the Heartbleed software bug, which is caused by a flaw in OpenSSL software. OpenSSL is commonly used on the internet to provide security and privacy.
Though BlackBerry Messenger may be at risk, a statement from the Waterloo-based company says investigations have found no problems from Heartbleed on Blackberry smartphones and servers, which are “fully protected from the OpenSSL issue.”
attacks would be “extremely difficult to execute”
But it warned that hacker attacks were possible on these other versions of BBM, although they would be “extremely difficult to execute,” requiring a so-called “man in the middle” attack, where data is intercepted while being transmitted from device to server. Such an attack would allow an attacker to gain the username and password through that exchange. It’s possible these attacks could affect other messaging and calling apps on the platforms as well.
BlackBerry said it would issue a software update by Friday to fix the security issues with BBM on iPhone and Android devices.
The vulnerability posed by Heartbleed came to public attention this month, but researchers say it may have existed for years. Security experts say Heartbleed may undermine security features of websites and networking equipment, but the extent of the damage isn’t known.