We can do better. Auditable open source and reproducible builds are security and privacy differentiators. They make shenanigans like these more difficult to pull off and easier to investigate.
Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
11–20 of 170 posts
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#12Funny how this follows right after this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/14/china-threaten...
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#13Pah, nothing to hide, nothing to fear, what's the big deal eh?
I do hope Eric Schmidt and Trent Lott have been using one of these phones/devices.
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#14Question for HN: I'm in the market for a new Android phone. If I want to avoid this sort of thing, are there manufacturers I should steer clear of?
> I'm in the market for a new Android phone. Find a phone which has a large community around it, and lots of custom ROMs available. An official Cyanogenmod release is a good sign. It's also a sign that your phone will have a longer usable life than whatever the manufacturer promises you now. Custom ROMs have a long history of extending the life of phones. For example the HTC G1 was abandoned by Google at Donut (1.6)…
"If your threat model includes a three letter agency, then don't use Android. Full stop. The iPhone is the ecosystem you want."
I wouldn't count on that either.. It depends on how "interesting" you are for them, given their reach, I would be really surprised if some of these agencies doesn't have zero-days and/or backdoors stockpiled for high value targets.
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#15We can do better. Auditable open source and reproducible builds are security and privacy differentiators. They make shenanigans like these more difficult to pull off and easier to investigate.
Hardware and firmware are still usually closed though.
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm in the market for a new Android phone. Find a phone which has a large community around it, and lots of custom ROMs available. An official Cyanogenmod release is a good sign. It's also a sign that your phone will have a longer usable life than whatever the manufacturer promises you now. Custom ROMs have a long history of extending the life of phones. For example the HTC G1 was abandoned by Google at Donut (1.6)…
Sounds great! Does Android 7 run smoothly and stable-y on this device?
Not quite yet. There are still some issues to be worked out. [0]
It runs Android 6 (CM13) great, just in my opinion Nougat isn't polished enough for daily use.
[0] http://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-2/development/rom-cyan...
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#17Question for HN: I'm in the market for a new Android phone. If I want to avoid this sort of thing, are there manufacturers I should steer clear of?
> I'm in the market for a new Android phone. Find a phone which has a large community around it, and lots of custom ROMs available. An official Cyanogenmod release is a good sign. It's also a sign that your phone will have a longer usable life than whatever the manufacturer promises you now. Custom ROMs have a long history of extending the life of phones. For example the HTC G1 was abandoned by Google at Donut (1.6)…
If your threat model includes a three letter agency, then don't use a phone.
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#18Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#19Question for HN: I'm in the market for a new Android phone. If I want to avoid this sort of thing, are there manufacturers I should steer clear of?
Get a phone that supports CyanogenMod. Sure, baseband still remains a blackbox and possibly backdoored, but at least you can get rid of most spyware/adware that comes preinstalled with Android. While we don't have fully open source OS with open drivers for smartphones, you cannot trust any manufacturer.
Or simply skip that step and get a phone that comes with CyanogenOS installed.
Re: Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
#20Huawei routers used in Indian govt offices were found to be sending data to China. They were banned after the discovery. Wont be surprised if cellular components that are made in China send back data quietly.