The hardware device in your pocket is probably the weakest link in your security chain right now. It probably also has your most personal and valuable information on it. Unlike software and systems, which have had a security element built into them for years, hardware is still out in the cold, security-wise. So says Joe Grand, product designer and president of Grand Idea Studio, and previously of the Lopht (a hacker think tank).

Speaking to Brainstorm in the run-up to the annual ITWeb Security Summit (happening this month in Sandton), Grand highlighted how things have changed, and how they’ve stayed the same.