BlackBerry patches QuadRooter: first big manufacturer to do so

BlackBerry may be on the ropes in the smartphone market, but the rugged Canadian company is still swinging for the fences in the game where they first staked their claim: security. Today the company announced that the major vulnerabilities that allowed for the QuadRooter exploit have already been patched on PRIV and DTEK50 devices.

PRIV, a device name which is, in part, short for “Privacy” has failed to live up to its maker’s big plans for it. The device jumped into the Android market feet-first with a slide out physical keyboard and robust security features, but many users just weren’t willing to fork over cash for the device, favoring instead more established Android brands. The DTEK50 is the company’s second attempt, but it remains to be seen whether it will pull them up.

But once again, BlackBerry is really showing what they can do in the realm of security. The QuadRooter hack, which rendered vulnerable an estimated 900 million mobile devices (Android devices running Qualcomm processors), leans on four security vulnerabilities to compromise its targets. BlackBerry’s August Marshmallow patch fixes three of these four, but it doesn’t even have to bother with the remaining one, as BlackBerry’s secure boot chain already renders it inert.

Although QuadRooter has caused a modicum of panic in the mobile ‘verse, there have been no sightings of its use in the wild just yet. Nevertheless, PRIV and DTEK50 owners can sleep a little bit easier at night.

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To apply the update, navigate to Settings > About phone > System updates and check for existing updates. Alternatively, you can just wait for the patch to arrive on your device, as it is rolling out via an OTA update over the coming days.

What are your thoughts regarding QuadRooter and BlackBerry’s rapid response to it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!