“The Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to prohibit the use of Apple’s iPhones in two of its major buildings from August, military officials said Friday,” Lee Tae-hoon reports for The Korea Times.
“They said other smart devices will continue to be allowed after installing a mobile device management (MDM) system that would automatically disable cameras, wireless Internet and recording functions,” Lee reports. “Army Col. Yoon Won-sik, vice spokesman at the defense ministry explained that the MND is reviewing mandating people, including its staff, to leave iPhones in a safety deposit box located outside its buildings.”
Lee reports, “The colonel noted that smart devices running on Google’ s Android OS, an open-source software program, including Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note, will be excluded from its ban as they are compatible with the MDM system.”
“MND officials who use iPhones have expressed strong discontent over the move to ban their handsets as they will need to purchase a new phone and fear that their personal information will be monitored,” Lee reports. “‘I hope the MND will take a more cautious approach over the introduction of mobile device management as this may lead to infringements of our basic rights and possibly a massive leak of personal information stored on its server,’ a military official said on the condition of anonymity.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is all quite unsurprising considering that Samsung owns South Korea. It’s amazing they allow the sale of iPhones in the country at all.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “M j miller” for the heads up.]
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Sometime before Wednesday of next week we’ll see this headline:
“Govt Officials Ban iPhone Over Security Concerns”
Silly headline. article says “They said other smart devices will continue to be allowed after installing a mobile device management (MDM) system that would automatically disable cameras, wireless Internet and recording functions,”.
no iphone. no android.
iPhone is perfectly suitable for this if it is configured with Apple’s Configurator software: it can manage/administrate use or ban of camera and tens of other devices’ functions.
So Defense’ staff can use iPhones easily if they would want. But visitors, whose profiles are obviously not administered by the ministry, will be banned from using Apple’s devices.
Anyone with a modicum of intelligence and common sense would have understood that the intent was to secure information and not ban the iPhone outright. Apple fanboys are naturally only more suspicious and paranoid than the South Korean military and naval community. Whereas the South Koreans have a committed enemy north of the 38th parallel Apple fanboys suspect foes behind every tree and rock.
Anyone with a modicum of intelligence and common sense would have understood that the intent was to secure information and not ban the iPhone outright. Apple fanboys are naturally only more suspicious and paranoid than the South Korean military and naval community. Whereas the South Koreans have a committed enemy north of the 38th parallel Apple fanboys suspect foes behind every tree and rock.
And anyone with the least bit of intelligence could have made there point without insults like you did.
You see how that works, the rest rest is just filler by a supposed individual that is only guessing.
Oh and you lost it with the fanboy wording, but gave yourself up in the first sentence as a hater…. Entertaining Freak.
Just search for “Samsung, corruption” .
“Can you say… bribery?” [/Mr_Rogers_voice]
I had a job interview with a company that does classified work for US military agencies. When I went into the building, I had to check my iPhone with the receptionist for the duration of the visit. The question was not “Do you have an iPhone?” it was “Does your phone have a camera?”
Smartphones are great espionage tools.
I was recently working at a reactor where they required me to check in my iPhone because it had a camera. Of course, they allowed my iPad 2 through as well as my MBP, both of which have cameras on them (and both of which were required to do the job).
and awfully hard to use for sneak photos
Let’s just take US troops out of South Korea, a little tit for tat.
Where I work I’m not allowed to use my iPhone in certain areas due to personal data security concerns from clients, as we handle money, credit card details and names and addresses from all over the UK. I can’t see how this is much different, as it’s military security, and they can’t control the iPhone.
Most South Koreans live in large cement block apartment buildings, all alike, built and owned by Samsung, and with a big Samsung logo on the side.
Obviously, you have never been to South Korea.
He isn’t far from the truth.
Maybe. But, but it’s obvious you haven’t..
There are buildings with Samsung written on them built by Samsung Construction.
I’m about to go abroad and work for Hyundai Shipbuilding starting this summer, a company connected to Hyundai Motors, but only as a part of the same conglomerate.
Samsung Construction, in a similar fashion, is really not that affiliated with Samsung Electronics.
Been doing business in Korea for almost 15 years. Go there at least three times a year.
Next “dumbass” statement.
The qualifier is “most”… In my travels in south Korea, I have not seen all of the buildings but I have seen many and not “most” of them were owned or designated with a big Samdung logo on the side.
Cheers.
F**k South Korea. Feed ’em to the North.
In Korea you have the iPhone Nazi.
“No iPhone for you!”
“But why?”
“Because Koreans like use crap!”
“Now take your Samsung & shove it up our ass where the sun don’t shine!”
It is quite possible to set up profiles and manage them from the apple configurator that can disable all of these options on iPhone.
Only if the owner of the iPhone is the South Korean Ministry of National Defense. individual’s iPhones can’t be turned off. Plus, it’s not an automatic system which turns off the camera, etc. once you walk into the building. Someone has to manually do it.
It would be wiser for the minister to ban iPhones from all of South Korea. That would likely boost Samsung smartphone sales in a huge way.
Most of you are missing the entire point. It’s not about iPhone vs. Android; it’s about being able to automatically disable recording functions on a mobile device as it enters the building. It’s a security issue for their national defense buildings. Apparently iPhones aren’t compatible (or Apple won’t allow) the software on the iPhone, so they are banned, as would Windows Phone if it also did not satisfy the security requirements.
People don’t have a right to carry their phones wherever they want, particularly into secured areas.
“The Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to prohibit the use of Apple’s iPhones in two of its major buildings from August…”
What about major buildings from June?
Who is August and why are his buildings being targeted?
+1
Uh –
Its not about ‘automatically’ disabling cameras and such upon entering the building.
The phones for the employees are provisioned by the mdm to not allow user access to the camera or whatever else they are doing.
Their MDM software doesn’t support iOS devices… So…. i would buy a Mac mini server and launch iConfigurator..
There are other iOS MDM solutions. equinox makes one, JAMF is another,
Anyone want to email a mac mini server configuration from the Korean apple store to the guy in IT?
Yea it’s that simple!
By banning iPhones and allowing use of Android phones for secure use, Korea has made it much easier for intelligence agencies everywhere to hack into. Good decision! 🙂
In other words, the walled garden ios cannot be gagged, while the open source android is okay with limiting access, otherwise known as censorship.
That’s what I take from the article.
Wow, some of the fanboy reactions here are ridiculous. We are talking about a nation that is still technically in a state of war with a highly aggressive rogue state.
The same rogue state that just recently attempted to test a ballistic missile system capable of carrying nuclear warheads they are currently developing.
We are talking about a nation that shares the most militarised border with a rogue state that is currently threatening to destabilise the most populous and volatile region in the world.
South Korea’s national security and protection of secrets (especially defensive programmes) is of upmost importance and to insinuate that its a corrupt move by Samsung is beyond absurd.
America’s National Department of Defense plans to pull equipment and soldiers out of Korea.
Hmmmm… and you have this knowledge based upon what high level Pentagon meetings that you have personally attended?
There are men and equipment leaving japan and men and equipment do “rotate” in and out of Korea as part of the process but it has not been announced (that I am aware) that the “National Department of Defence” (as opposed to the state-by-state Department of Defence) is pulling equipment and soldiers out o fKorea. Could you please site your source.
Thanks
He is right. The plans are in the works and moves have already been made. Units have been redeployed within Korea. I have that both the Korean government and American government have been discussing the withdrawal for quite some time. Probably won’t be anytime soon. I believe certain US bases have been turned over to ROK armed forces.
Redeployed within Korea is different than out of Korea. They have been discussing withdrawal since the 1950s… It is a constant discussion because the US is a necessary thorn in the side of the politicos in South Korea but SK also knows what would happen if the US pulled out.
Cheers.
Shamesung. Perfect name.
Dumb Koreans. Android open source is more secure? How wrong they are. North Korea will be happy with the news
Keep on eating dogs and being ass-backwards fucking assholes
So SameDung and government pals are willing to compromise the national defense of Korea with less secure, malware magnet phones for the sake of their ill-gotten corporate pride having been suitably torn away by Apple?
Great move Samsung, blithering idiots.
Samsung: Soooo screwing their own country.
There is no doubt in my mind that this was partially (and probably, quite strongly) influenced by the patriotic motives (Samsung vs. Apple).
The technical explanation is that the software that they use for disabling the cameras, voice recorders and such, only runs on Android. You don’t need to be an IT engineer to know that there are plenty of solutions for the problem of blocking recording device and apps on the iOS platform — likely more reliable, simpler to configure and more consistent than on Android.
In other words, the Ministry could have easily declared ban on Android (considering that it is a fragmented mess, and that it is more than likely that some of the devices might not get caught by the MDM tool), and declared iOS the only mobile device accepted (as it can be managed reliably and consistently, across the fairly few different models and iOS versions). So, either the Ministry simply wants to boost Samsung, or they have incredibly incompetent IT engineers who simply have no clue that iOS devices can be centrally controlled and managed.
There is no doubt that the Defense Ministry needs to take security very seriously (because of the rogue dictatorship north of them). But this particular decision (Yes to Android, No to iOS) is clearly arbitrary, and reeks of domestic protectionism. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of Android and iOS will know that, and no amount of posturing about the big enemy next door, and the importance of the need to control, can hide that truth.
It’s too bad the group isn’t the Ministry of Defense National. Could’ve seen MDN’s take on MDN!