Mobile Security Specification – Locking down mobile phones
A new set of security standards designed to lock down mobile devices has been hammered out and is set to be unveiled at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show being held in Los Angeles next month. Called the Mobile Security Specification, it is billed as the basis for a new generation of secure phones and mobile devices that will be harder to tamper with and more secure. The standards are backed by companies such as Nokia, Samsung Electronics, and France Telecom. I’m not sure I like this locking stuff, but what can we do?
The specification has been years in development, said Janne Uusilehto, head of Nokia product security and the chairman of the working group developing this technology. In general terms, the specification calls on hardware vendors to store protected information in a secure area of the phones. Similar to the Trusted Platform Module used in PCs, this technology could be used to ensure that the phone’s operating system, applications and data have not been tampered with. This type of trusted module could also be used by network operators to ensure that the phones on their network can’t be used if they are stolen, said Mark Redman, a principal engineer with Freescale Semiconductor Inc. who is familiar with the specification. “That is probably one of the biggest concerns that the cell phone operators have at this stage,” he said.
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