Phone makers seek to further lock down handsets

Initiative to make handsets more secure has met with mixed reactions

The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) is working on specifications for a security chip that could show up in mobile phones by the end of next year. 

The initiative to make handsets more secure has broad support from phone manufacturers, carriers and semiconductor makers.

But the plans have been sharply criticised by consumer advocacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation as an effort to further limit consumers in what they can do with their mobile phones. 

At the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment tradeshow in San Francisco, the TCG spoke publicly about the initiative for the first time, and unveiled 11 applications that the security chip seeks to enable.

These include authentication, digital rights management, Sim-lock, controlling software downloads and software use, and the protection of user data and privacy.

"The mobile platform is being driven to more value-added solutions such as access control, e-commerce and content delivery," said Brian Berger, marketing chairman at the TCG. "Then hardware security becomes even more important."

A mobile phone is susceptible in theory to the same threats that face computers, he added, including viruses and denial of service attacks. Berger argued that security technology embedded on a chip could prevent such attacks from reaching the handset.

The TCG is a non-profit organisation which defines security standards for the high tech industry, including the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security chip for desktops and laptop.

It also offers a standard for secure networks, and is working on a security chip specifications for servers.

The mobile chip will be similar to the TPM, which is deployed in several enterprise systems and is expected to be used in the Intel powered Apple computers that will start shipping next year.

In Apple's case the chip ensures that its OS X operating system is running only on Apple hardware. The chip also allows for the secure storage of passwords and enables the encryption of data.

One of its more controversial elements is that it can be used for digital rights management, limiting which web pages users can print or what digital content they can play.