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GNU/Linux cellular devices are not more private than an appropriately secured Android handset. Given the modem vulnerabilities and poor support for Linux ARM SO
by talldayo 2y ago
GNU/Linux cellular devices are not more private than an appropriately secured Android handset. Given the modem vulnerabilities and poor support for Linux ARM SOCs, I would much rather trust an OS designed from the ground-up to incorporate cellular security. There's a reason Linux was forked to create Android, and not built as an upstream effort. Linux is perfectly secure for a physically secured server rack. It is a nightmare scenario for GSM privacy.
- fsflover 2y ago> Linux is perfectly secure for a physically secured server rack. It is a nightmare scenario for GSM privacy. What is the difference?
- talldayo 2y agoEndpoint security, IP-based GSM networking vs RIL telephony, isolation measures, ISP trust and fingerprinting mitigation, modem transparency, privledged baseband access and SIM vulnerability, to name a few big ones. Again - Linux for desktops and servers can be great for privacy. For pretty much every single smartphone-based threat vector, it is a free lunch for attackers. We're talking off-the-shelf CVE exploits versus blowing a multi-million dollar zero-day here.
- fsflover 2y agoThis is all very theoretical and unclear. For example, on Pinephone, the modem runs FLOSS software (except for a small blob managing the tower connections). Also, it's connected via USB, so there is no privileged access for it. I have no idea what ISP trust has to do with that. You can install Tor on the phone. And so on.