Apple announces an SDK for the iPhone

["David Farber" <dave () farber net>]

BTW, there is a setting in Nokia's profile, at least on the E61 , that allows non signed apps to be installed. I set  
mine to do so. djf



-----Original Message-----
From: Steven M. Bellovin [mailto:smb () cs columbia edu]
Sent: Wed 10/17/2007 3:50 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: Apple announces an SDK for the iPhone
 
Apple has just announced that in February, they will offer a software
development kit (SDK) for the iPhone and iPod touch. This is very good
news. However, the note speaks approvingly of Nokia requiring
applications to be digitally signed by "known developers". This
conflates authentication ? who wrote or published the code ? and
protection. They're not the same. At best, authentication tells you
whom to sue after the fact. What's really needed is a strong security
architecture that prevents nasty things from happening.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Apple does decide to use
digital signatures. What will the criteria be for obtaining a
certificate? Will certificates need to be renewed frequently,
effectively forcing users into a software rental model? Is this the
iPhone or the iProfit? (There are some good observations in the New
York Times Bits blog at
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/programmers-welcome-for-the-iphonenext-year/ .)



                --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb


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