

Snapdragon processors address mobile security with smartphone kill switch - finid
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2015/01/05/snapdragon-processors-address-mobile-security-smartphone-kill-switch

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zkirill
I feel that if the absence of a kill switch is a deciding factor for you when
choosing a smartphone then you shouldn't be using a smartphone in the first
place.

Also, interestingly enough Blackberry isn't a part of the Group which aligns
pretty well with their image.

[http://www.cio.com/article/2370034/smartphones/blackberry-
no...](http://www.cio.com/article/2370034/smartphones/blackberry-not-a-part-
of-smartphone--kill-switch--group--updated-.html)

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erglkjahlkh
What really scares is me is "combined with third party service provider
support" part. That means it is not just you who has the capability to flip
the switch.

Imagine someone breaking into service provider's database, acquiring all the
keys. That couldn't surely happen, could it?

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rdc12
Depends if Sony is hosting them or not (this is only partially a joke)

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azinman2
My question is will this work even without a SIM card. My father recent had
his iPhone stolen and within 10 minutes I had gone into iCloud and turned on
remote wipe. Unfortunately the thief was smart enough to remove the sim and
make sure it never saw Internet while breaking into the phone enough to the
point that he got an email the next day that google had blocked someone nearby
trying to log into his gmail. Who know what else was gleaned from the phone
itself.

It's difficult to force a remote reset when you no longer have physical
control over the device. Baseband support on a separate battery might be one
of the few ways to help increase the probability of protection.

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sargun
Doesn't that effectively become a "Two Generals' Problem" sort of thing? I
mean, I guess links are reliable enough, but at what point do you decide when
link severance is long enough to wipe the phone? What occurs if iCloud is down
for that long?

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na85
Qualcomm is widely known to be cozy with certain clandestine agencies. I'm
quite certain, nay, positive, that this kill switch can be abused by
government agents and police forces. How long until this is used against
dissenters? Against protesters in some Middle Eastern dictatorship?

Hell, how long until the NYPD rolls out a Stingray with kill-switch-tripping
capability?

I'm betting not long.

The world needs an open baseband processor and accompanying OS/firmware.

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kristoffer
If it is well known I suppose you can provide something to back that up?

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mikeyouse
From one of the leaked Snowden powerpoints, Qualcomm is listed as an 'NSA
Strategic Partner':

[http://i.imgur.com/V211k8o.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/V211k8o.jpg)

The NSA defines these relationships as, "Unique key corporate partnerships to
high-capacity international fiber-optic cables, switches and/or routers
throughout the world"

It's worth noting that Qualcomm was founded 30 years ago specifically to
provide communications equipment to the pentagon[1]. Also General Scowcroft,
George HW Bush's Assistant for National Security Affairs, is a current board
member.[2]

[1] -
[https://www.qualcomm.com/company/about/history](https://www.qualcomm.com/company/about/history)

[2] -
[http://investor.qualcomm.com/directors.cfm](http://investor.qualcomm.com/directors.cfm)

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darklajid
Featuring a OnePlus One in the (hilarious) video.

I hope I'm not accidentally running around with this 'feature'?

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subhro
Also, I am wondering is this different from say, Apple iPhone Locator (apart
from the fact that this is relevant to Android)? I think with the latest OS,
unless you choose a weak password, your device pretty much could be made a
brick if stolen?

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blueskin_
I give it a month before trolls are disabling people's phones for fun.

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lvs
A radio and network interface that comes up before the bootloader? Sounds like
awesome fun!

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tomaskafka
Turning three-letter-agency requests into consumer 'features' since 2001.

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mitkok
So crackers use JavaScript to extract data from smartphones ?

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nether
mother of god

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jcrawfordor
An interesting thought experiment is to consider how differently this would be
perceived if they branded this as something like "remote disable" rather than
using the politically charged term "kill switch."

I suspect a lot of the dissenters would disappear.

