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#cellphones

11 posts6 participants1 post today
Public
Wm.son

#CellPhones

It's a little late, but any reviews on the pixel 7?
I killed my s20 today and this is what the Verizon guy suggested.

I hate hate hate getting a new phone, btw. Not good with tech stuff.

I'm finding my way around it. But it's not ideal. I dislike that Google is everywhere

Replied in thread
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NNN

Bonus round: if the idea of running open-source Android on your phone interests you, check-out GrapheneOS. 

It mostly only runs on the Pixel series, and only while they are still supported by Google, raising costs to the $50/year range.  But it is possibly the most secure phone operating system you can use.

#budget#cellphones
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NNN

A Pixel 6a (for example) costs $121, can run with Google support for 2 years, then will probably be supported by LineageOS for at-least another 5.  This can bring cost down <$25/year... if you can keep your phone in one piece that long!

#budget#cellphones
Continued thread
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NNN

Open-source Android software called "LineageOS" can make  inexpensive phones last many years (search "lineageOS devices" for compatible models).  This also gives monthly security updates, and runs faster without "bloatware."

Initial install of LineageOS can require running special software to unlock the bootloader. But Pixel phones are unlocked, so are the easiest to install LineageOS on, and are so cheap, there's not much point in buying the older ones. 

#budget#CellPhones
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NNN

Typical phones get an annual security patch. Our family decided to use phones until 12 months after the last patch (when it would have received a patch, if still supported)

We search "end-of-life <brand>" & compare yrs vs price on Swappa. IE: a Galaxy A25 5G has 3.5 years support left (so: 4.5 years usable by our standard), and costs $163 or $36/year. A Pixel 6A costs $121 and 4 usable years (=$40/yr)

We can find supported Android phones <$50/year, or Apple for <$100/yr

#budget
#CellPhones

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NNN

Cell phones go out of support too fast, leaving you with the choice between "expensive & wasteful", or "insecure". 

Our family uses two strategies to minimize the cost, with reasonable security: maximizing years of support per-dollar; or using open-source software.

(1/5)

#budget
#CellPhones

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AJ Sadauskas

@JessTheUnstill One of the big fuckups for BlackBerry was just the delays in getting BlackBerry 10, plus the Z10 and Q10, to market.

I got to use BB10 for a couple of months, and it was nice. It was built on QNX, with a modern swipe/gesture based UI built with Qt.

Arguably a better OS than the iOS and Android releases at that same time.

There was a feature called the Hub, which wax a unified inbox for your email messages, social posts, and text messages. Plus a modern app store, and separate personal/work profiles built into the OS.

There was a version without a physical keyboard (Z10) and with (Q10).

The problem is they didn't start working on it until 2010, and BB10 wasn't released until 2013.

For about two years before BB10 came out, BlackBerry didn't release any new phones.

Had BB10 come out earlier, it *might* have saved the company.

#Blackberry#Crackberry#phones
Public
Pyrzout :vm:

Cell Phone OPSEC for Border Crossings schneier.com/blog/archives/202 #operationalsecurity #Uncategorized #cellphones #borders

Schneier on Security · Cell Phone OPSEC for Border Crossings - Schneier on SecurityI have heard stories of more aggressive interrogation of electronic devices at US border crossings. I know a lot about securing computers, but very little about securing phones. Are there easy ways to delete data—files, photos, etc.—on phones so it can’t be recovered? Does resetting a phone to factory defaults erase data, or is it still recoverable? That is, does the reset erase the old encryption key, or just sever the password that access that key? When the phone is rebooted, are deleted files still available? We need answers for both iPhones and Android phones. And it’s not just the US; the world is going to become a more dangerous place to oppose state power...
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Schneier on Security RSS

Cell Phone OPSEC for Border Crossings

I have heard stories of more aggressive interrogation of electronic devices at US border crossings. I know a lot about securing computers, but very little about securing phones.
Are there easy ways to delete data—files, photos, etc.&#... schneier.com/blog/archives/202

Schneier on Security · Cell Phone OPSEC for Border Crossings - Schneier on SecurityI have heard stories of more aggressive interrogation of electronic devices at US border crossings. I know a lot about securing computers, but very little about securing phones. Are there easy ways to delete data—files, photos, etc.—on phones so it can’t be recovered? Does resetting a phone to factory defaults erase data, or is it still recoverable? That is, does the reset erase the old encryption key, or just sever the password that access that key? When the phone is rebooted, are deleted files still available? We need answers for both iPhones and Android phones. And it’s not just the US; the world is going to become a more dangerous place to oppose state power...
#operationalsecurity#Uncategorized#cellphones
Public
𝙳𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙

#surveillance #IMSI #Cellphones

"CSS (also known as Stingrays or IMSI catchers) are devices that masquerade as legitimate cell-phone towers, tricking phones within a certain radius into connecting to the device rather than a tower.

"EFF's 'Rayhunter' works by intercepting, storing, and analyzing the control traffic (but not user traffic, such as web requests) between the mobile hotspot Rayhunter runs on and the cell tower to which it’s connected.

"Rayhunter works on a readily-available U$20 device.

eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/meet

Electronic Frontier Foundation · Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular SpyingRayhunter is a new open source tool we’ve created that runs off an affordable mobile hotspot that we hope empowers everyone, regardless of technical skill, to help search out cell-site simulators (CSS) around the world.
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Kent Pitman

Yikes, from an article that contains a lot more detail, but just to get your attention as to the impact part:

«The ubiquitous ESP32 microchip made by Chinese manufacturer Espressif and used by over 1 billion units as of 2023 contains undocumented commands that could be leveraged for attacks.

The undocumented commands allow spoofing of trusted devices, unauthorized data access, pivoting to other devices on the network, and potentially establishing long-term persistence.

…

"Exploitation of this backdoor would allow hostile actors to conduct impersonation attacks and permanently infect sensitive devices such as mobile phones, computers, smart locks or medical equipment by bypassing code audit controls."

The researchers warned that ESP32 is one of the world's most widely used chips for Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity in IoT (Internet of Things) devices, so the risk is significant.»

People worried about this topic might also "enjoy" the recent Netflix series Zero Day.

And not to get too far afield, but hopefully it also didn't escape notice that there have been broad firings of qualified people in the US government for reasons related not to their technical skill or ability to protect our nation from issues like this, but because of irrelevant details of their private lives or personal leanings on issues of having fair and competent government, helping the needy, defending individual human freedom and dignity, or avoiding mass death in myriad ever-more-likely ways.

bleepingcomputer.com/news/secu

BleepingComputer · Undocumented commands found in Bluetooth chip used by a billion devicesBy Bill Toulas
#CyberSecurity#security#BlueTooth
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