On 28 July 2013 11:19, Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> wrote:

> Smartphone 'soft-tokens' means virtual dongles used for (supposed)
> two-factor authentication such as Symantec VIP or SecurEnvoy
> SecurAccess. Pity Turner doesn't say _how_ iOS, Android, and
> BlackberryOS yield 'total control over devices' to local carriers.

It seems that every time a new version of iOS is released someone jail-breaks
it quite quickly. So it's obviously not impossible to crack the OS. But
doing so reliably over a population without getting caught is going to be
difficult.

Just because it is possible to jail-break the phone, which usually requires physical procession of the phone, does not mean your carrier can remotely access your data. In fact, at least for some phones jail breaking can't be done without erasing your data, so they still wouldn't be able to access it.

Maybe the article is talking about bugs/security exploits in the OS that may or may not be fixed in recent code? A good reason not to use old versions of Android.

I would hope everyone is using secure encryption these days for syncing contacts, etc. However, if not, that is another way your carrier could get access to your data.

--
Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>