A new set of security standards designed to lock down mobile devices has been hammered out and is set to be unveiled at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show being held in Los Angeles next month. Called the Mobile Security Specification, it is billed as the basis for a new generation of secure phones and mobile devices that will be harder to tamper with and more secure. The standards are backed by companies such as Nokia, Samsung Electronics, and France Telecom.
The specification has been years in development, said Janne Uusilehto, head of Nokia product security and the chairman of the working group developing this technology. "It is a big deal. This is the first time that we have created such common security specifications for all handheld devices," Uusilehto said. The new specifications are built on work done by the Trusted Computing Group, (TCG) an industry association that has already created similar standards for PCs, servers and networks.