3 ms·

Do computer security guys use smartphones?

13 points by tokhi 10y ago

Privacy with a smartphone is really challenging; if you are one of the security guys then how do you manage to have privacy?

herbst 10y ago
I am not a security guy but i use my smartphone as "walled environment" i do nothing on it that could potentially lead to issues except maybe some google services. But anything Banking or Bitcoin has never seen my phone at all.
- tokhi 10y ago
  google services are quite something... :)
  - herbst 10y ago
    true, but without those there would be no point in having a smart phone. (yet)
davismwfl 10y ago
I am not a security guy, but I keep a tablet that is void of all personal information, uses no Google, Amazon services, has no email accounts on it, has no banking or financial applications, no pictures, no social media etc. It doesn't even have my name anywhere on it. The only thing that ties me to it is likely the wifi data that it stores. I also routinely will wipe it and start over. Why do I do this? Well, it lets me have an anonymous web experience overall. I started it when I needed a way to test work I was doing but making sure that it was a "clean" experience. e.g. I didn't have something loaded or cached that would mess up my testing or the results. Then over time I figured out it is nice too because if someone needs to borrow a tablet for something real quick or needs to look something up I will hand it to them and I have no worries over anything they might see/do. If I was doing security work, I don't think it would stop me from having a smart phone, but it would depend what type of security work. If being anonymous and hidden was the goal, I sure wouldn't have a smart phone, or any permanent phone for that matter.
- tokhi 10y ago
  nice tips, however you may still be verified by your Mac-Address and IP. BTW you can use Tor browser for anonymous browsing https://www.torproject.org/ https://www.torproject.org/ its encrypted & even your location is different in each session.
  - davismwfl 10y ago
    Good point on the mac address/IP, and that does happen you can tell with targeted ads and re-marketing campaigns. But at least it is a little more clean. And my main goal originally was to test mobile Safari vs Chrome etc on sites I created or to load up an app to test it in a clean environment. Then it expanded to hey, this works really well for keeping things pretty clean and I don't have to worry about what someone might see on the tablet itself. Also works great for public places where even if I use it to play on wifi and someone cracks into it, they won't see anything but my browsing history overall (and wifi connections). I am sure there are a few more things they could find, but nothing I'd feel bad about being lost I don't think. And since I never access my email or anything on it that won't be there. I do leave wifi (and bluetooth) off on my phone and don't ever connect my phone to wifi or bluetooth except at home. I know people can still likely get into it through other means, but reducing the attack surface by turning off wifi and bluetooth seems reasonable and is easy enough. Curious how much protection it adds though, cause sometimes it is inconvenient not to just jump on wifi to speed things up or just to get a connection. And I have played with Tor some, but haven't yet really gotten into it. I need to explore it some more if for nothing else to learn it and understand it better.
dpeck 10y ago
in my experience security guys and privacy guys are very different people. Theres a lot of overlap in interest and skillset at lower levels but it usually diverges hard with experience.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
sidcool 10y ago
I knew a few who used Cyongen mod devices.
- tokhi 10y ago
  Oh, I didn't know about this, need to explore it. Thanks.
CiPHPerCoder 10y ago
I have an Android phone running Cyanogen. I mostly don't install anything ever (other than Signal). No games, no social media apps, etc. I also have Spotify because I mostly listen to music rather than make phone calls. I rarely browse the web on my phone, unless I'm testing a mobile application. I refuse to install Telegram.
chatmasta 10y ago
In my personal experience, the more I learn about security, the more cynical I become that privacy has any chance in modern society. There is a staggering amount of realtime, personally identifying (meta-)data available to a growing number of companies. It's truly scary, but I fear there is little to be done except prepare for the inevitable. Privacy is on its way to extinction. Adapt or die.

13 points by tokhi 10y ago

Privacy with a smartphone is really challenging; if you are one of the security guys then how do you manage to have privacy?

herbst 10y ago

I am not a security guy but i use my smartphone as "walled environment" i do nothing on it that could potentially lead to issues except maybe some google services. But anything Banking or Bitcoin has never seen my phone at all.

tokhi 10y ago
google services are quite something... :)
- herbst 10y ago
  true, but without those there would be no point in having a smart phone. (yet)

davismwfl 10y ago

I am not a security guy, but I keep a tablet that is void of all personal information, uses no Google, Amazon services, has no email accounts on it, has no banking or financial applications, no pictures, no social media etc. It doesn't even have my name anywhere on it. The only thing that ties me to it is likely the wifi data that it stores. I also routinely will wipe it and start over. Why do I do this? Well, it lets me have an anonymous web experience overall. I started it when I needed a way to test work I was doing but making sure that it was a "clean" experience. e.g. I didn't have something loaded or cached that would mess up my testing or the results. Then over time I figured out it is nice too because if someone needs to borrow a tablet for something real quick or needs to look something up I will hand it to them and I have no worries over anything they might see/do. If I was doing security work, I don't think it would stop me from having a smart phone, but it would depend what type of security work. If being anonymous and hidden was the goal, I sure wouldn't have a smart phone, or any permanent phone for that matter.

tokhi 10y ago
nice tips, however you may still be verified by your Mac-Address and IP. BTW you can use Tor browser for anonymous browsing https://www.torproject.org/ https://www.torproject.org/ its encrypted & even your location is different in each session.
- davismwfl 10y ago
  Good point on the mac address/IP, and that does happen you can tell with targeted ads and re-marketing campaigns. But at least it is a little more clean. And my main goal originally was to test mobile Safari vs Chrome etc on sites I created or to load up an app to test it in a clean environment. Then it expanded to hey, this works really well for keeping things pretty clean and I don't have to worry about what someone might see on the tablet itself. Also works great for public places where even if I use it to play on wifi and someone cracks into it, they won't see anything but my browsing history overall (and wifi connections). I am sure there are a few more things they could find, but nothing I'd feel bad about being lost I don't think. And since I never access my email or anything on it that won't be there. I do leave wifi (and bluetooth) off on my phone and don't ever connect my phone to wifi or bluetooth except at home. I know people can still likely get into it through other means, but reducing the attack surface by turning off wifi and bluetooth seems reasonable and is easy enough. Curious how much protection it adds though, cause sometimes it is inconvenient not to just jump on wifi to speed things up or just to get a connection. And I have played with Tor some, but haven't yet really gotten into it. I need to explore it some more if for nothing else to learn it and understand it better.

dpeck 10y ago

in my experience security guys and privacy guys are very different people. Theres a lot of overlap in interest and skillset at lower levels but it usually diverges hard with experience.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

sidcool 10y ago

I knew a few who used Cyongen mod devices.

tokhi 10y ago
Oh, I didn't know about this, need to explore it. Thanks.

CiPHPerCoder 10y ago

I have an Android phone running Cyanogen. I mostly don't install anything ever (other than Signal). No games, no social media apps, etc. I also have Spotify because I mostly listen to music rather than make phone calls. I rarely browse the web on my phone, unless I'm testing a mobile application. I refuse to install Telegram.

chatmasta 10y ago

In my personal experience, the more I learn about security, the more cynical I become that privacy has any chance in modern society. There is a staggering amount of realtime, personally identifying (meta-)data available to a growing number of companies. It's truly scary, but I fear there is little to be done except prepare for the inevitable. Privacy is on its way to extinction. Adapt or die.