BT chose to Harden the iPhone 7 after rejecting the Samsung Note 4.
Image: CNET
Posted on 01/26/2017 11:52:07 AM PST by Swordmaker
iPhone chosen over a Android handset to be turned into "dual-persona" device that can be used to discuss confidential matters.
The iPhone 7 is being turned into a phone capable of safeguarding military-level secrets for the UK armed forces.
Telecoms giant BT is hardening the security of the device to allow UK military personnel to use it to discuss state secrets and for storing sensitive data.
Describing the iPhone 7 as the "device of choice" for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), Steve Bunn, technical business manager for defence at BT, said the phone will be capable of being switched between different modes, depending on the sensitivity of the call.
"We've been working very closely with them to develop what we've commonly called a 'dual-persona device'.
"Essentially [it] means you can have voice at official and at secret."
BT is also working with the MoD to create "secure storage containers" on the device to hold sensitive data, he said.
Describing the work as "going very well", he said BT originally began working with an Android device, the Samsung Note 4.
"But as more and more development and testing was done, the security wasn't deemed to be sufficient, so that's why we moved [to iPhone]."
However, beyond security, Derek Stretch, business development director with BT, said the main consideration that edged out the Samsung Note was that the iPhone 7 was already widely deployed within the MoD.
BT officials said they were unable to provide more details on the customized device for security reasons.
A raft of "secure" phones have been released in recent years, from the $14,800 Solarin smartphone to Boeing's Black phone it developed for the defence and security industry.
The majority of these phones run hardened versions of Android, a choice the makers say is driven by ease with which they can alter Android's open-source code.
Across the world, various military and security bodies use GSMK's CryptoPhones, which run a heavily stripped-down version of Android that has had common smartphone features removed to lower the security risk.
Outside of the realm of Android devices customized for security, however, security experts told TechRepublic's sister site ZDNet the iPhone remains the best all-round choice.
The Ministry of Defense had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Pinging ThunderSleeps.
The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me
_Handie-Talkie_Radio.jpg)
No doubt after the military guys get done with it. . . and it will weigh twenty pounds. Don't forget the extra power supplies. Three of them for redundancy. Ten Pounds each.
I’m sure that the Chinese factories will be happy to churn iPhones out to whatever spec the Ministry of Defense wants and with absolutely no backdoors at all. None zip zilch.
You have a lot to learn about iPhone security.
Apple is in charge of the hardware design and software. Any hardware or software backdoors would stand out like a red flag to Apple's engineers since they designed everything about the iPhone, not the Chinese. The Ministry of Defense also has no say in the specs. Apple designed the processor, the boot loader IC, the Secure Element processor, and made the masks that make these processors through their own IC design company. The iPhone has its own automatic 256 bit AES encryption already built in, which is higher than our government's and Financial Industry's 128 bit standard AES encryption. The Ministry of Defense can only change the Apps being used, and add additional encryption on top of that already supplied. This is why the iPhone is the number one secure device on the market today. . . Apple, a US company, is responsible for the entire widget, and keeps it that way.
On the other hand, millions of Android phones have this feature built in to their Android OS. . .
Android Backdoor Is Secretly Sending User Data and Texts to China and No One Knows Why.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.