

South Korean military starts iPhone ban in its major buildings, permits Android - fhoxh
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/04/116_109859.html

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mpd
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.

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blahedo
> _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.

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

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

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

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ars
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.

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

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diminish
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 .

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oellegaard
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.

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joelhaasnoot
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.

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helpbygrace
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.

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

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krallja
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.

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andrewpi
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?

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A1kmm
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.

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

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wazoox
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.

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randomStuff
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.

