Gigaom has a piece posted that talks to the laws around cell phone seizure. There's unanswered questions about whether or not police can search cell phones without a warrant. It goes on to suggest that, for now, enforcement officials can use a Faraday Bag or similar technology to ensure the phone's contents aren't remotely wiped until a search warrant can be obtained. But, the article also suggests that there's an even lower tech item that will ensure important data doesn't disappear.
Police officers can simply keep a $2 roll of aluminum foil in their vehicles and wrap the cell phone in a few layers upon seizure. Aluminum foil eliminates the ability of remote wiping capability since it blocks wireless transmissions.
Read the full article here: How aluminum foil could stop warrantless cell phone searches
If you check out our coverage on BYOD, you'll see a long, laundry list of problems that is keeping BYOD from becoming a mainstream solution. Many companies are embracing it only to find that things like legal issues, lack of security and privacy concerns still aren't solved. Numerous BYOD implementations have stalled. BYOD is a market that is truly putting the cart before the horse.
One of the brighter solutions for BYOD security is the ability to remote wipe a cell phone, erasing important company data if the device is lost or stolen. So, now it's a bit humorous to hear that simply wrapping the device in a few layers of aluminum foil can break that capability. How do you fix that with BYOD technology?
