Hackers can spy on BlackBerry PlayBook connections
Researchers and attackers have had no shortage of mobile platforms and devices to sink their teeth into in recent years, thanks to the explosion of iOS and Android phones and tablets in the consumer and enterprise markets. Now, the spotlight is slowly beginning to turn in the direction of RIM, and specifically its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
The first dings in the PlayBook's armor came last month when a group of researchers published a tool that could jailbreak PlayBook tablets through the exploitation of a bug they'd discovered in the operating system. RIM later issued a fix for the jailbreak, but that was just the start of what may end up being a long road for the company's security efforts.
The latest indication is work done by a pair of researchers who found a series of problems and weaknesses in PlayBook, including one that enables an attacker to listen in on the connection between the tablet and a BlackBerry handset. That connection, which is done via Bluetooth in the company's Bridge application, is designed to allow users to access their corporate email, calendar and other data on the tablet.
