South Korean military starts iPhone ban in its major buildings, permits Android | Hacker News Reader

South Korean military starts iPhone ban in its major buildings, permits Android

koreatimes.co.kr

37 pointsfhoxh26 comments

There's some editorializing in the title here. The ban only covers two buildings, and any phone that allows them to add the monitoring they require (not just Android phones) would be acceptable.

> The ban only covers two buildings

For now, with plans to phase in over a couple years, hence "starts ban".

> any phone that allows [...] (not just Android phones) would be acceptable.

Of which Android phones are the vast majority.

Given that the title field is space-limited, I think the summary is a reasonable one.

What happened to the "pattern of lights" that would temporarily disable the iPhone camera? For concerts etc.

As far as I've heard, it was just a patent application, it doesn't seem to have ever been implemented.

What good is software "blocking" hardware functions?! Enemy countries could go around this in no time

They've got to justify their budget somehow.

Although in S.Korea's army's case, perhaps not much justification needed.

I assume it's to prevent malware (presumably installed by an enemy), not to prevent the device owner from using the hardware.

Ideally the software is installed in a way (rootkit) that can not be duplicated by remotely installed malware.

I hope this trend won't spread to Europe. I do not want anyone to install stuff on my phone or monitor it.

Opposite to Korea's Samsung, LG etc, Europe soon won't have much (Nokia) to protect or prefer. In addition France and Germany are traditionally week in mobile and software. so i wouldnt expect any bans .

As I read the article it is more about the military's access to the source code, as opposed to protecting local businesses in this case, therefore they allow android which is open source.

Think this is more related to the fact that Android has a very plugable Device Management feature, that allows remote wipes, etc. iPhone has similar features but not as enterprise-friendly.

I agree with it. If Apple supports Device Management scheme, S.Korea Military won't prevent iPhone. Actually not just iPhone but all other phones that MDM cannot be installed.

Apple iPhone has supported MDM for years: http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/integration/mdm/

This should be the top comment on this article.

S.Korea bans phones that do not support MDM. iPhone supports MDM. Therefore iPhone is banned anyway.

But I don't think the military would be entrust there security on the Apple Push notification service. Also any military would always be skeptical unless they have access to the whole source code.

Nokia's sales for 2012 Q1 are depressing...

Most NATO countries already ban phones in similar buildings.

According to one Gizmodo article, Apple itself disallow any phones with cameras in its own factories, except for iPhones (that they can control).

http://gizmodo.com/5427058/apple-gestapo-how-apple-hunts-dow...

The operation, as Tom calls it, is not anything special. It is not one of a kind event. It's just a normal practice, and the process is pretty simple: The manager will instruct all employees to stay at their desks, telling them what to do and what to expect at any given time. The Apple Gestapo never handles the communication. They are there, present, supervising the supervisors, making sure everything goes as planned.

All cellphones are then taken. Usually, they collect them all at the same time, which means that the process could take a long time. If you need to contact the exterior during the time your cellphone is under examination, you will have to ask for permission, and your call will be monitored.

They don't ask for cameras because there are no cameras at Apple: Employees are not allowed to get into the campus with them. If the cellphone is an iPhone, it gets backed up onto a laptop. "In fact, at the beginning they used to say that the iPhones were really their property, since Apple gave every employee a free iPhone," he points out. All the employees are asked to unlock and disable any locking features in their cellphones, and then the special forces will proceed to check them for recent activity.

They back up everything and go through all the other phones' text messages and pictures. If you have porn in your phone, they will see it. If you have text messages to your spouse, lover, or Tiger Woods, they will see them, too. Just like that. No privacy, no limits.

You're seriously citing an unsubstantiated article where the central analogy is literally "Apple = Nazis"? I normally skip the Gawker bashing because it's pretty played out by now, but that has got to be one of the worst examples of tech journalism I've ever read. Even if that sort of security sweep does happen at Apple, I honestly can't think of a worse way to present the information.

you do realize the article is talking about the S. Korean Defense Ministry, right?

I have heard that Apple campuses and information are highly compartmentalized, almost along DoD lines. Badge access systems heavily restrict who can go where. I'm curious what their policy is on carrying devices into access controlled areas.

I wonder how they determine that an Android device is actually running their MDM software instead of a fake program that simulates it while being observed by the authorities?

I think the intention is to protect government information from being obtained by someone gaining unauthorised access to the phone (e.g. an employee takes their smartphone into the building, goes to a meeting, and someone else compromises an app on the phone and uses it to listen in to the meeting), not to protect against the legitimate owner of the phone.

So the owner of the phone deliberately faking the MDM software is probably outside of the threat model.

That said, someone who managed to root someone else's phone remotely might be able to tamper with the MDM software in advance while wi-fi is still enabled so that it doesn't function correctly.

News! Some wannabe journalist just discovered what has been the norm everywhere around the world for ten years!

People obviously misunderstood me. This article talks about military forbidding camera phones and similar devices like something new. In most sensitive facilities around the world, you can't even get in with your telephone, whatever model it is, and particularly if it comes with a camera. The novel (and somewhat praiseworthy) part is that they decided to selectively allow some phones by "controlling" them.

This is just so they can favor Samsung Galaxy phones. We save their ass in the Korean war and prevent North Korea from using nuclear weapons Seoul. And, this is how they repay us; typical ingrates.

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