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IPhone is closed source and any kind of rootkit can be installed by Apple/NSA secret court system. I suggest not using a smartphone if you are serious

IPhone is closed source and any kind of rootkit can be installed by Apple/NSA secret court system. I suggest not using a smartphone if you are serious about security. I absolutely disagree. While you are correct that in theory an iPhone can have rootkits and other backdoors installed on it by the NSA, in practice, I've found that the average user's computer can be compromised far more easily than their smartphone. Remember, we're not dealing with security professionals. We're not even dealing with people who can use PGP to secure their e-mail. We're dealing with rank newbies. In such a situation, it's far better for them to take incremental steps today to secure themselves (e.g. by using Signal to communicate, rather than e-mail) than it is for them to spend a year learning about encryption and having PGP key signing parties before they can set up a secure infrastructure. Comments like these are why I have a deep frustration with the "security community". It's letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

guitarbill 10y ago
It's a silly argument anyway, as in the famous xkcd comic, technology probably isn't the weakest link. And if a state really wants to snoop on you in particular, they will. Meanwhile, as mentioned elsewhere, Android is vulnerable to several key-extraction techniques and the speed of security updates depends on which model you have.
- astrodust 10y ago
  Literally every other phone on the planet is vulnerable. Even some garbage flip-phone you got at Wal-Mart thinking it's not smart and therefore secure is likely a joke for anyone to crack into. That software hasn't changed in years. It's full of unpatched holes. This is why Snowden wanted people to put their phones in the freezer to avoid eavesdropping: https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/why-snowdens-visitors-put-their-phones-in-the-fridge/ https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/why-snowdens-vi...
egh5oon 10y ago
> It's letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. We are talking activists facing state-sponsored attackers, where "good" security is not enough.

guitarbill 10y ago

It's a silly argument anyway, as in the famous xkcd comic, technology probably isn't the weakest link. And if a state really wants to snoop on you in particular, they will. Meanwhile, as mentioned elsewhere, Android is vulnerable to several key-extraction techniques and the speed of security updates depends on which model you have.

astrodust 10y ago
Literally every other phone on the planet is vulnerable. Even some garbage flip-phone you got at Wal-Mart thinking it's not smart and therefore secure is likely a joke for anyone to crack into. That software hasn't changed in years. It's full of unpatched holes. This is why Snowden wanted people to put their phones in the freezer to avoid eavesdropping: https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/why-snowdens-visitors-put-their-phones-in-the-fridge/ https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/why-snowdens-vi...

egh5oon 10y ago

> It's letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. We are talking activists facing state-sponsored attackers, where "good" security is not enough.