Re: [tor-talk] How safe is smartphones today?

["nb.linux" <nb.linux@xxxxxxxxx>]

Mike Perry:
> anonymous coward:
>> My special concern is about the baseband CPU. The baseband potentially
>> allows full access to the whole system. And the baseband is closed source.
>>
>> Thus, the baseband is the perfect trojan for "them". I asked a phone
>> maker that makes "cryptophones" what they say about the baseband CPU as
>> a backdoor. They did not reply to the present day.
>>
>> If it really is that simply for "them" to break into a smartphone, all
>> the security apps are worthlesse. Be it TOR, ChatSecure, TextSecure,
>> RedPhone, everything would be crap. "They" could easily steal your
>> secret keys and contacts.
>>
>> Thus, what does the scientific community say about these concerns?
> 
> You may like:
> https://blog.torproject.org/blog/mission-impossible-hardening-android-security-and-privacy
> 
> It's still not perfect (nothing is), and it's certainly nowhere near
> user-friendly yet, but I happen to think it's a step in the right
> direction.
In case you don't know it yet, you may also read
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/replicant-developers-find-and-close-samsung-galaxy-backdoor
and
http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/SamsungGalaxyBackdoor

So free software matters, e.g. by not implementing risky features.
But it is not a guarantee and may only work sometimes, as it depends on
the architecture of the phone.
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