At the dawn of the '90s, a silly Jim Belushi/Charles Grodin movie had an ex-con finding a business executive's Filofax (remember those?) and using the information inside to essentially take over the businessguy's life.

In those pre-Palm days, all of that information could be contained in a thick book; nowadays, it's all in that tiny cell phone of yours that tends to fall out of your pocket in taxis.

Recognizing that, yesterday the UK's Design Council launched the Mobile Phone Security Challenge, a "search for designers and technologists to create 'crime-proof' mobiles:"

...research shows that 80% of phones contain data which can be used by criminals to access bank accounts, steal identity, or sell on personal data.

The Mobile Phone Security Challenge is offering a total of 400,000 pounds to designers and technology experts to come up with new ways of securing handsets, the data they contain, and their future use as electronic 'wallets' when m-commerce technology is introduced in the UK.

The Challenge is part of Design out Crime, an initiative from the Home Office Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime and the Design Council. The Mobile Phone Security Challenge is supported by the Technology Strategy Board.

Click here for more details.