The iPhone Has Passed a Key Security Threshold ⇥ technologyreview.com

Simson Garfinkle (not to be confused with) writes for Technology Review:

In its efforts to make its devices more secure, Apple has crossed a significant threshold. Technologies the company has adopted protect Apple customers’ content so well that in many situations it’s impossible for law enforcement to perform forensic examinations of devices seized from criminals. Most significant is the increasing use of encryption, which is beginning to cause problems for law enforcement agencies when they encounter systems with encrypted drives.

This article examines the very deep levels to which the iPhone goes to encrypt local data. It’s perfectly legal in the United States for police to examine a cell phone’s contents without a warrant, and since we’re all putting more information on our phones than ever before, it’s best to own one that doesn’t put the user in a potentially incriminating situation without due process.

RIM’s phones have long been the benchmark for high security—indeed, it’s the phone that the President uses—but Android is catching up. However, this article notes that it’s not quite up to the encryption standards of either iOS or BlackBerry OS.