Default Security Policies For HTC Touch Pro Not So Secure

Recently I bought a new cell phone: the HTC Touch Pro. Great mobile phone. Opera Mobile Web surfing is handled great. The Sprint EV-DO Rev A network is fast and it’s the most stable smart phone I’ve had so far. As a security researcher naturally I had to dig deeper into how secure this mobile phone actually is. I quickly found out things that make me wonder if the mobile handset industry has learned anything from the desktop industry as far as protecting consumers.
The first thing I did was look at the default security settings of the mobile phone. Microsoft mobile keeps the policies in the registry under HKLM\Security\Policies\Policies. These policies are also documented at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms890461.aspx along with the recommended settings to use as a security baseline at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms889564.aspx. The first thing I noticed is that some policy settings on my phone are, by default, different from the recommended settings. Below is the analysis on two of these changed policy settings:
SL Message Policy
Recommended Default: 2048 - SECROLE_PPG_TRUSTED
Value on HTC Touch Pro: 0000100c: 2112
Changed Value: (SECROLE_PPG_TRUSTED | SECROLE_USER_UNAUTH)
SI Message Policy
Recommended Default: 3072 - (SECROLE_PPG_AUTH | SECROLE_PPG_TRUSTED)
Value on HTC Touch Pro: 0000100d: 3136
Changed Value: (SECROLE_PPG_AUTH | SECROLE_PPG_TRUSTED | SECROLE_USER_UNAUTH)
These policy settings define WAP Push SI (Service Indication) and SL (Service Load). WAP was designed to be used by operators, administrators, and (continue reading...)