markdown/2014_03_unveiling-the-samsung-galaxy-back-door.md


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date: 2014-03-13T18:43:22+00:00
title: Unveiling the Samsung Galaxy back-door
authors: Paul Kocialkowski
tags: Privacy/security, Paul Kocialkowski
---
Yesterday, we disclosed our findings about the [Samsung Galaxy back-door][1],
an anti-feature found in Samsung Galaxy devices that lets the modem access the
files stored on the device. For a complete statement about the issue, you can
refer to [the article we published at the Free Software Foundation's
website][1]. A technical description of the issue is available on a [dedicated
page of the Replicant wiki][2], along with more information regarding the
back-door.

The information spread out very quickly and we're glad the press is finding
interest in such matters as privacy and unjust control over one's computing.
This demonstrates yet another time why free software is essential and how a
single piece of proprietary software can compromise a whole device.

We have yet to hear from Samsung about this issue, as we are hoping that the
reason for the presence of this back-door will be clarified. In that regard,
we'd be very glad to work with Samsung in order to make things right, for
instance through releasing free software or documentation that would make it
easy for community Android versions to get rid of the incriminated blob.

**Update:** Several sources, including Samsung, claim this is a non-issue. A
complementary statement to address these claims was issued at [Paul
Kocialkowski's personal blog][3].

 [1]: <http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/replicant-developers-find-and-close-samsung-galaxy-backdoor>

 [2]:
<http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/SamsungGalaxyBackdoor>

 [3]: <http://code.paulk.fr/article18/the-samsung-galaxy-back-door-was-bullshit-really>