A prerequisite for security is free software. Critical applications like the Silent Circle ones are proprietary, afaict. I have zero trust in the Blackphone and would not purchase one.
Blackphone
11–20 of 102 posts
Re: Blackphone
#12I hate to break it to you, but this is not going to keep you safe from a state-level adversary. I could drone on about this for pages and pages, but the sad fact is that if you are a target, it doesn't matter that you are using a "secure phone", "secure OS", or "encryption". Time and time again, these systems have been broken or breached with simple tradecraft and subtle sabotage. The Pentagon has a concerted (and ex…
> When I need to communicate secretly I BUY SOMEONE A BEER.
Hi Richard, it has come to our attention that you have been secretively discussing leaking government information to our enemy in a pub in central London.
What's that you say? You didn't discuss private information? Then why did you try to conceal your handwriting on the napkin from our CCTV security cameras?
We'd like to take you in for questioning. If you resist this may end badly for you.
On a sidenote, if they at least have 2 separate SoC's on board, and a self rolled hardware firewall to make sure the baseband can't access things it shouldn't access, that may still be a great improvement to what we have right now. It still won't protect you from unknown hardware level exploits, but it's better than nothing.
Re: Blackphone
#13A prerequisite for security is free software. Critical applications like the Silent Circle ones are proprietary, afaict. I have zero trust in the Blackphone and would not purchase one.
This Verge article [1] says “The company will open source the vast majority of its code for the phone in order for third parties to properly audit its techniques, find holes, and ultimately help to improve the product.”
1. http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/24/5441642/blackphone-silent-...
Re: Blackphone
#14A prerequisite for security is free software. Critical applications like the Silent Circle ones are proprietary, afaict. I have zero trust in the Blackphone and would not purchase one.
The irony is that bad crypto like this is worse than no crypto. It is probably more valuable to specifically target users of this phone because they "have something to hide".
Re: Blackphone
#15I hate to break it to you, but this is not going to keep you safe from a state-level adversary. I could drone on about this for pages and pages, but the sad fact is that if you are a target, it doesn't matter that you are using a "secure phone", "secure OS", or "encryption". Time and time again, these systems have been broken or breached with simple tradecraft and subtle sabotage. The Pentagon has a concerted (and ex…
> When I need to communicate secretly I BUY SOMEONE A BEER. Hi Richard, it has come to our attention that you have been secretively discussing leaking government information to our enemy in a pub in central London. What's that you say? You didn't discuss private information? Then why did you try to conceal your handwriting on the napkin from our CCTV security cameras? We'd like to take you in for questioning. If you…
Very curious, how did you discover that his name was Richard?
Edit: nm, I should have just googled it :)
Re: Blackphone
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When I need to communicate secretly I BUY SOMEONE A BEER. Hi Richard, it has come to our attention that you have been secretively discussing leaking government information to our enemy in a pub in central London. What's that you say? You didn't discuss private information? Then why did you try to conceal your handwriting on the napkin from our CCTV security cameras? We'd like to take you in for questioning. If you…
Very curious, how did you discover that his name was Richard? Edit: nm, I should have just googled it :)
Uh HUH. Assuming Twitter has my real name that is. LOL.
Re: Blackphone
#17I hate to break it to you, but this is not going to keep you safe from a state-level adversary. I could drone on about this for pages and pages, but the sad fact is that if you are a target, it doesn't matter that you are using a "secure phone", "secure OS", or "encryption". Time and time again, these systems have been broken or breached with simple tradecraft and subtle sabotage. The Pentagon has a concerted (and ex…
Generally, there are some trivial precautions that will frustrate all but the most concentrated effort. Things like TRESOR, grsecurity, /boot on an USB stick, etc.
Re: Blackphone
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When I need to communicate secretly I BUY SOMEONE A BEER. Hi Richard, it has come to our attention that you have been secretively discussing leaking government information to our enemy in a pub in central London. What's that you say? You didn't discuss private information? Then why did you try to conceal your handwriting on the napkin from our CCTV security cameras? We'd like to take you in for questioning. If you…
Very curious, how did you discover that his name was Richard? Edit: nm, I should have just googled it :)
Google ‘nrsolis’, top result. Total time, 2 seconds.
Re: Blackphone
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When I need to communicate secretly I BUY SOMEONE A BEER. Hi Richard, it has come to our attention that you have been secretively discussing leaking government information to our enemy in a pub in central London. What's that you say? You didn't discuss private information? Then why did you try to conceal your handwriting on the napkin from our CCTV security cameras? We'd like to take you in for questioning. If you…
Very curious, how did you discover that his name was Richard? Edit: nm, I should have just googled it :)
Reuse of the same username across multiple social networks/forums, I would guess.
Re: Blackphone
#20I hate to break it to you, but this is not going to keep you safe from a state-level adversary. I could drone on about this for pages and pages, but the sad fact is that if you are a target, it doesn't matter that you are using a "secure phone", "secure OS", or "encryption". Time and time again, these systems have been broken or breached with simple tradecraft and subtle sabotage. The Pentagon has a concerted (and ex…
I haven't yet done enough research to argue for or against the phone's security, but your point about buying someone a beer is poignant.
By conversing over the phone or with a computer, we usually expose ourselves to a greater risk of eavesdropping. We should ask ourselves if the medium is worth the exposure to risk, considering, among other things, the privacy of the information we're sharing.
That preliminary question seems to be missing from conversations about online privacy.