Apple attempts to patent kill switch that roots out unauthorized users, detects jailbreaks

Very nearly every mobile operating system manufacturer can remotely delete apps from the smartphones they help provide, but if a up to date patent application is any indication, Apple’s trying to lock down the full enchilada on future devices. The elemental concept is as simple as the diagram above — certain activities trigger the phone to think it’s within the wrong hands — but the specific activities and particular remedies Apple suggests extend to audiovisual spying (to detect if a user has one other face or voice than the owner), heartbeat monitoring and complete remote shutdown. While the patent mostly sounds targeted at opt-in security software and would simply send you an alert or perform a remote wipe in the event that your phone were stolen or hacked, jailbreaking and unlocking are also explicitly mentioned as the marks of an unauthorized user, and one line mentions that cellular carriers could shut down or cripple a device when this sort of user is detected. Sounds great for securing phones at retail, sure, but personally we’re plenty proud of the prevailing Find My iPhone app.

Source

This post is tagged: detects, Jailbreaks, kill, out, patent, Unauthorized