The technology can be used by brokers, hospitals and cheating spouses to send confidential information
In last year's mainland hit comedy Cell Phone, a cheating husband loses his wife after she confirms her suspicions by checking the short text messages on his mobile phone. He probably wished those messages had been encrypted to keep them from prying eyes.
Now, an Australian company has created a technology that will allow philandering spouses - and others who have more legitimate reasons to keep their messages private - to encrypt messages which can be unlocked only with a password.
Bond Wireless has launched the service with Malaysian operator Maxis Communications. The company is also looking to sell its system to Hong Kong operators and businesses which need a secure way of sending send short text messages to their customers.
Chief executive Clarence Tan said the potential applications went beyond keeping text messages private.
A stock trader sending a buy order to a broker needs confirmation that the instruction has been received. With Bond's systems, the sender is notified after a message has been decrypted.
'Physically entering a password to receive a message serves as proof of receipt,' Mr Tan said.