Nokia recently released a bunch of firmware updates in an attempt to stop people from hacking the S60v3 security system(in an incredibly complicated process). Even though this worked for a short time, the good boys at symbian-freak’s have already managed to find another way in.
Will the game go on(like at Apple’s)? Or will it end here and now? Read on to find out how I feel…
Before looking at the current situation, we should look back a few years. We’re seeing the first stage of explosive growth in the S60 business. Loads of S60 phones come together in a Stadium in Helsinki. One of them has Cabir…you probably know the rest of the story…
This forced Nokia to implement stringent security into S60v3 - the common user obviously is not capable to keep himself safe(anyone remember the iloveyou-worm?), and thus needs to be protected at all cost. So far so good - unfortunately, the system failed to address a key issue of the S60 platform: piracy.
Users are currently safe from harm, and developers need to pay a nice bit of cash to get their apps signed(Tapwave did so for free)..all was good - until the folk at symbian-freak’s decided to crack their way in and get themselves the full control that they so much desired.
OK - the security is now broken. But does this endanger the average user? IMHO, it doesn’t…
The reason for this is that the patch is very difficult to do - yes, I can do it, and so can you. However, I can see my girlfriend struggling to get it done(she is a Palm OS nut) - and the rest of my family has absolutely no chance to get past step 2 of their instructions.
Thus, this patch is limited to people who KNOW what they do - and these never were endangered by S60 virii in the first place. As long as the unlocking process doesn’t become any easier, developers will not see any benefit in creating unsigned apps. The average user will remain safe, while power users get what they so desire. Developers don’t get any extra protection from piracy(as they never got one in the first place) - nobody gets hurt.
Everyone is happy - and Nokia IMHO can be, too. There IMHO is no need for another round of updates - what do you think?
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