Security

If James Bond had an iPhone, he'd be using Wickr. Secret messaging between iOS devices has been around for some time, with apps such as Black SMS which encrypt messages to keep them private. Now a free app known as Wickr has taken the concept to a new level.

Not only does Wickr encrypt messages in transit, keeping them away from prying eyes, but the app actually is capable of sending self-destructing messages with a limited lifespan. After these messages are received, they are securely erased from the recipient's iOS device based on the sender's instructions.

A new security vulnerability on the Apple iPhone has been discovered that can expose photo albums stored on the device. Although this sounds like a dangerous breach of privacy there are several things that must happen before a complete stranger can view your pictures without entering a passcode. This is of course assuming you use a passcode to protect your data.

First of all, your iPhone must have iOS 5 or later installed. This adds the Camera shortcut icon to the home screen when the home button is double-pressed. Secondly your iPhone must fall into the wrong hands, with someone taking possession of your device who would care about finding and viewing your photos.

You might think that wiping your lost or stolen iOS device would prevent another party from receiving messages via iMessage on the wiped device. As it turns out, Apple will be doing some work to issue a security update in future iterations of iMessage.

Users have discovered through an unpleasant trial and error process that the only way to stop text messages coming in via the iMessage service is to change your Apple ID. Wiping the lost iPhone and deactivating the phone number does nothing to stop a thief from receiving and reading your iMessages. These texts will be delivered to your old iPhone as well as the new one you just purchased to replace the lost device.

Some of you may be wondering if Siri is too good to be true. After all, the technology offers to solve many of your problems via real-time speech interaction. Voice dictation of texts and search parameters is convenient, but at what price? Battery power is not the only thing sacrificed using Siri on the iPhone 4S, that is unless you check your security settings.

Turns out that Siri (much like Voice Control before its time) can access a whole range of functions without ever entering the passcode lock number that protects your iPhone. Reports have indicated that Siri is capable of changing calendar appointments, writing text messages and sending emails, all without ever entering the passcode that normally protects your iPhone 4S.