I was asked by a CIO friend of mine what are the best practices for protecting laptops and phones during foreign travel and in particular China.
What you can count on when you land in China is that your phone will be electronically hijacked immediately for SMS (text) and SMTP (email). The software stacks that control both protocols will be compromised. The Chinese are not the only ones doing this. The FBI “How the FBI Intercepts Cell Phone Data” and UK Security services are doing the same.
How is this done?
