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How would a Linux phone be wrt security? I just had my iphone stolen, don't have to worry too much about data loss because it's unlikely somebody will crack int

by ant6n 5y ago

How would a Linux phone be wrt security? I just had my iphone stolen, don't have to worry too much about data loss because it's unlikely somebody will crack into it. I don't think that's true for Android, but I'm not sure about Linux phones.

codetrotter 5y ago
A first step would be to do the same thing on your Linux phone as you'd do on a Linux desktop or laptop, encrypt the storage. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_entire_system https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_enti... However, the difference of course is that with a desktop especially and also with a laptop if you are actually careful with the security of your data, is that you generally turn them off when you are not using them, so that they don't sit unprotected with the encryption keys in RAM, and they are unlikely to be stolen while you are using them. A phone, on the other hand, is probably turned on 24/7. But really, if someone is ready to extract the storage encryption keys of your phone from its RAM, those same people will probably snatch your laptop out of your hands while you are using it and it's unlocked. So as long as you are able to encrypt the storage of the phone with LUKS, I think you shall have nothing to worry about with most phone thieves. OTOH, having the storage completely unencrypted I think even the regular low-level criminals may decide to snoop on your data. At least if it's an SD card that you can just pop into a computer. But then again, neither Windows nor macOS read any of the common Linux filesystems out of the box. So probably even without encryption most thieves would not get to your data unless they were specifically motivated to go for it, and in which case as mentioned they might as well snatch your laptop (or your iPhone) from out of your hands when it's booted and unlocked.
- awesomeusername 5y ago
  Also anyone compitent enough to do that likely has better options available than stealing phones
rektide 5y ago
that would depend on what the practitioners imagine & build for themselves as ideal security regimes, wouldn't it? we can build exactly whatever we want! wanna run Tails on your phone? go for it. that should be secure.

by ant6n 5y ago

codetrotter 5y ago

A first step would be to do the same thing on your Linux phone as you'd do on a Linux desktop or laptop, encrypt the storage. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_entire_system https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_enti... However, the difference of course is that with a desktop especially and also with a laptop if you are actually careful with the security of your data, is that you generally turn them off when you are not using them, so that they don't sit unprotected with the encryption keys in RAM, and they are unlikely to be stolen while you are using them. A phone, on the other hand, is probably turned on 24/7. But really, if someone is ready to extract the storage encryption keys of your phone from its RAM, those same people will probably snatch your laptop out of your hands while you are using it and it's unlocked. So as long as you are able to encrypt the storage of the phone with LUKS, I think you shall have nothing to worry about with most phone thieves. OTOH, having the storage completely unencrypted I think even the regular low-level criminals may decide to snoop on your data. At least if it's an SD card that you can just pop into a computer. But then again, neither Windows nor macOS read any of the common Linux filesystems out of the box. So probably even without encryption most thieves would not get to your data unless they were specifically motivated to go for it, and in which case as mentioned they might as well snatch your laptop (or your iPhone) from out of your hands when it's booted and unlocked.

awesomeusername 5y ago
Also anyone compitent enough to do that likely has better options available than stealing phones

rektide 5y ago

that would depend on what the practitioners imagine & build for themselves as ideal security regimes, wouldn't it? we can build exactly whatever we want! wanna run Tails on your phone? go for it. that should be secure.