Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates operator who recently pushed snooping software to its BlackBerry-using customers, has explained that it's all in the interests of network compatibility. But its claim that appear fall down at the slightest scrutiny - or at least with a glance at the code in question. The patch, which was sent out earlier this week, includes a file called Registration.jar, which appears to emanate from snooping-software specialist SS8. Registration.jar includes Java code clearly intended to intercept and make copies of received e-mail and text messages, despite assurances from Etisalat that the package is "required for service enhancements particularly for issues identified related to the handover between 2G to 3G network coverage areas".
