Security Options?

Apols ahead of time. I posted similar question about a year ago under a different login (long time lurker, recent poster) but lost details for that acct.

Simple question - why not buy another midrange phone like Samsung A9 or Sony XA2 Ultra which have better hardware specs like screen and camera? Exception would be great battery on Motion. If the user were to take extra steps to settings and apps.

For clarity let me be specific about security steps: proton vpn , proton mail, encrypt hard drive, use 6 digit pin to decrypt, Norton fingerprint app to access all apps thereby achieving 2FA security, limit apps' use of personal data like location, lock phone sim chip, monitor background apps via Oreo functionality, above mentioned brands with equally quick monthly updates, use of Signal, and more secure browsers like Brave or Waterfox with 5-6 addins?

Privacy (anonymity) one could use netguard plus orbot instead of vpn, Fdroid and Yalp to decouple from Google.

Can we stay away from vkb vs pkb please.

Or does one go to non mainstream solutions like Lineage OS or Copperhead OS to achieve better security and privacy?

As online security and privacy has become very important to me over past 2 years I want to get this nailed down.

@StJohnSmythe

Hello,

As you mentioned, those techniques can be applied to any android phone to make it more private. That said, not all android phones start off with the same level of privacy (some are more chatty with their home companies than others by default)

Now while steps can be taken by a user to make their device more private, most android phones don't match the security provided by Blackberry.

For example, the Samsung A9 you mention above (and many other Samsung/LG/Moto devices for that matter) are compromised by Cellebrite: They advertise they can perform File system extraction while bypassing lock on the A9 device specifically.

https://cf-media.cellebrite.com/wp-c...leaseNotes.pdf

Cellebrite has managed to defeat user locks or encryption on thousands of devices, however, I have yet to find any indication in their support materials that they can do this on a BB (BB10 or BBAndroid). If they could, I'm sure they would advertise it.

Additionally, no one has publicly claimed to succeed in rooting a BB android device.

Personally, I've also considered what you are suggesting. Getting a phone I could root, strip of all the bloatware and google apps, and then setup the way I want (using the techniques you mentioned) but this phone will never be as secure as a BB.

Cheers

Edit: You mentioned the Norton Fingerprint app. This functionality is available on BB Android with their Locker App built in. I just checked the Norton App, it talks with google analytics. The Locker app doesn't connect with anything.

Originally Posted by StJohnSmythe

Apols ahead of time. I posted similar question about a year ago under a different login (long time lurker, recent poster) but lost details for that acct.

Simple question - why not buy another midrange phone like Samsung A9 or Sony XA2 Ultra which have better hardware specs like screen and camera? Exception would be great battery on Motion. If the user were to take extra steps to settings and apps.

For clarity let me be specific about security steps: proton vpn , proton mail, encrypt hard drive, use 6 digit pin to decrypt, Norton fingerprint app to access all apps thereby achieving 2FA security, limit apps' use of personal data like location, lock phone sim chip, monitor background apps via Oreo functionality, above mentioned brands with equally quick monthly updates, use of Signal, and more secure browsers like Brave or Waterfox with 5-6 addins?

Privacy (anonymity) one could use netguard plus orbot instead of vpn, Fdroid and Yalp to decouple from Google.

Can we stay away from vkb vs pkb please.

Or does one go to non mainstream solutions like Lineage OS or Copperhead OS to achieve better security and privacy?

As online security and privacy has become very important to me over past 2 years I want to get this nailed down.

I’m not an IT guy. Copperhead OS was having money troubles and I believe is dead in the water. Perhaps closed ecosystem IOS would better serve your security needs compared with Android that has more open ecosystem meaning additional weak spots...

Originally Posted by Chuck Finley69

I’m not an IT guy. Copperhead OS was having money troubles and I believe is dead in the water. Perhaps closed ecosystem IOS would better serve your security needs compared with Android that has more open ecosystem meaning additional weak spots...

Thanks for feedback. Not sure about iOS as there is an inbuilt or required trust factor. Yes Apple does not make money by selling our data. However there are insufficient tools for me to verfiy