Cellphone Security will be a problem
It seems more and more stuff is being built into cellphones. And why not, almost everyone has one and you have it with you at all times... right? Unless you lose it. I don't have numbers, but I recall an article where it was said that so many phones are lost every day that it is a scary thought.
You have a smartphone. You install dozens of apps to gain access to your "connected" life. Social networks, check. Email, check. Banking accounts, check. eBay account, check. You always check the "Remember my password" because it's a pain to have to enter them each time. And now the Nexus S will have a NFC (near field communication) chip to have secured purchasing by just swiping your phone close to another chip.
Next, you lose your phone. Of course, you have not bothered to put a lock code on your phone (and on touch screens these can be seen by finger smudge!). Someone finds your phone and has access to all your info. Ouch, scary thought, no? It's not just that you lose everything you had stored like photos and videos (which you probably have never backed up), it's scarier to think that someone can consult your bank account and make purchases right there and then.
So what is it we need to counter this? I think the first thing is something that will really protect your device being accessed. Here is an app that is not available yet but holds great promise (at least the concept does). Blue Planet Apps is working on BioLock. Once installed, use device can only be unlocked by one of three ways: Retina Scan, Face Recognition or a password. The first two options are of interest. Retina scan will scan for a picture of your eye using either the front or rear-facing camera. Face Recognition will do the same with your full face and is said to be able to make a difference between a real face and a photo. I think this type of security holds great promise. The hardware is there, the processing power is there, it was just a matter of time before it happened. BioLock is nearing Beta status, I can't wait to give it a try!
The other thing available is a remote locator/lock/wipe of your phone. What this means is you have software installed on your phone and you register it to a service on the web. If you lose your phone, you can go to website and remotely ask to give the location of your phone and it will usually show up on a Google Maps type interface. You can also give it the command to remotely lock your phone or wipe your phone data. I've been looking at Lookout. For free you can backup contacts (although I recommend setting up your contacts on Gmail and have then sync automatically from the cloud), have some sort of anti-malware software scan your programs and you get a phone locator which will give you position of your phone and you can tell it to "scream" which will blast a horn on full audio. For free, you won't get lock and data wipe though.
For a Samsung Galaxy (or Wave) phone Samsung created Mobile Tracker which seems to be available only for the UK and Germany right now... boo Samsung.
For backup services, I'm trying to get all my pictures and videos in sync with Picasa. I'm testing out a product by PixelPipe to push photos straight to Picasa. Needless to say, there are a ton of pics and videos to sync so the initial push is a bit of a pain, but it should be worth it in the end. The problem is the 1Gig limit of Picasa. I think I will bust it, we'll see.
Anyhow, I'm sure there are other options out there. The goal here was not to give the perfect solution. It was to raise awareness of security for cellphones and give out a few options I've been looking at lately.
You have a smartphone. You install dozens of apps to gain access to your "connected" life. Social networks, check. Email, check. Banking accounts, check. eBay account, check. You always check the "Remember my password" because it's a pain to have to enter them each time. And now the Nexus S will have a NFC (near field communication) chip to have secured purchasing by just swiping your phone close to another chip.
Next, you lose your phone. Of course, you have not bothered to put a lock code on your phone (and on touch screens these can be seen by finger smudge!). Someone finds your phone and has access to all your info. Ouch, scary thought, no? It's not just that you lose everything you had stored like photos and videos (which you probably have never backed up), it's scarier to think that someone can consult your bank account and make purchases right there and then.
The other thing available is a remote locator/lock/wipe of your phone. What this means is you have software installed on your phone and you register it to a service on the web. If you lose your phone, you can go to website and remotely ask to give the location of your phone and it will usually show up on a Google Maps type interface. You can also give it the command to remotely lock your phone or wipe your phone data. I've been looking at Lookout. For free you can backup contacts (although I recommend setting up your contacts on Gmail and have then sync automatically from the cloud), have some sort of anti-malware software scan your programs and you get a phone locator which will give you position of your phone and you can tell it to "scream" which will blast a horn on full audio. For free, you won't get lock and data wipe though.
For a Samsung Galaxy (or Wave) phone Samsung created Mobile Tracker which seems to be available only for the UK and Germany right now... boo Samsung.
For backup services, I'm trying to get all my pictures and videos in sync with Picasa. I'm testing out a product by PixelPipe to push photos straight to Picasa. Needless to say, there are a ton of pics and videos to sync so the initial push is a bit of a pain, but it should be worth it in the end. The problem is the 1Gig limit of Picasa. I think I will bust it, we'll see.
Anyhow, I'm sure there are other options out there. The goal here was not to give the perfect solution. It was to raise awareness of security for cellphones and give out a few options I've been looking at lately.
Comments
Post a Comment