Just a quick post here. I was listening to the radio today while stuck in a traffic jam and they were talking about the (not so)new PayPal smartphone app that allows you to “bump” two phones together in order to transfer funds. It seems like every day, we get closer to having the ability to let our smartphones replace our wallets. Will it be nightmare security wise once implemented? Almost certainly. Will it also be a major increase in convenience? You bet your ass.

This is just another new frontier for which the security community must balance security vs convenience. As we all know, wherever the mass public is involved, convenience will win 99% of the time. And that 1% is usually after a major breach where everyone suddenly wants to be locked down, until they see what a hassle it is. Two factor authentication is two steps too many for most people. Sad but true.

I’m all for carrying less devices every day, as long as we can strike a reasonable balance between convenience and security. I think that now, in 2011, we’re at a transition phase. There are still people who opt to carry checkbooks instead of debit cards. There are still people who won’t go near a computer, let alone a smartphone. But the day is coming when those people will no longer be able to reasonably operate in civilized society, and it’s coming fast. Adapt and survive, or stay stagnant and be left behind and regarded as a drag on the progress that the rest of society is striving so hard to accomplish.

Every day, the smartphone gets smarter. It can alleviate us of some of our day to day responsibilities. It has the ability to allow us to automate our lives to a certain extent. And I think it’s great honestly. Not worrying about certain daily minutiae allows us to focus on more important things. It allows us to consolidate the way we interact with our world. I could carry a dedicated MP3/Video player, a portable gaming system, a nice compact 12mp camera, a two factor auth keyfob, a cell phone, wear a watch, and carry a planner, but I don’t have to carry any of things any more, because my phone does all of them, and my phone is a dinosaur by today’s standards. Sure, sometimes the functionality isn’t as good, but I’m willing to sacrifice functionality for convenience to some extent as I imagine most of you are.

The point here is, we as a people are at a crossroads of emerging personal technologies. How long before the smartphone becomes more personal to us than our wallets? Has it already? Does it pose more danger if stolen? What do you think? Answer in the poll to the right.

This entry was posted on July 19, 2011 at 10:53 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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