In layman's terms, how is the KEYone more secure than other Android phones?

I have the KEYone for Verizon, but it has a ton of reception issues. Warranty support has been nonexistent (emailed them days ago, have heard nothing) and the whole delayed launch process and attitude of the company has put me off.

So I'm thinking of getting the Moto Z + physical keyboard mod when it comes out. But I am concerned because Lenovo has been caught installing spyware in their phones.

I've heard about BlackBerry's "hardened kernel" and whatnot but have no idea what that means.

In layman's terms, how is BlackBerry's version of Android more secure?

FWIW...

- Hardened Linux Kernel: We reduce the Android attack surface with numerous patches and configuration changes to improve security.

- Hardware Root of Trust: During manufacturing, we establish a Hardware Root of Trust that adds security keys to the processor on every DTEK50 and PRIV as it is built. Those keys track, verify, and provision each device – meaning that the authenticity and integrity of your device is guaranteed, as is the safety of the data it holds.

- A Better Bootloader: Because of our secure boot process, you can trust that only an untampered, BlackBerry-signed OS can be loaded. Each stage of the secure boot chain must first verify that the next component is fully intact before proceeding.

- FIPS 140-2 Compliant Full Disk Encryption: U.S. government-grade encryption protects your private information, like personal pictures or banking info, if your phone is lost or stolen.

- Ongoing Security Patching: Many popular smartphones put the user’s private information at risk of being hacked due to slow security updates – weeks, months, or even years after a patch is released. BlackBerry’s record of being the quickest to deliver Android security patches minimizes your vulnerability.

- BlackBerry Integrity Detection (BID): We continuously monitor PRIV and DTEK50 for events or configuration changes that indicate a compromise to device security, then we trigger real-time actions if a threat is detected.

- Dedicated Security Research & Response Teams: We bring our world-renowned security experts and testing to our line of BlackBerry secure smartphones powered by Android.

*Based on older posts, hence no mention of newer devices

tl;dr: BlackBerry takes additional measures of security and implements them into their devices from the ground up that other OEM's are just simply not doing.

Disclaimer: How much stock you put into their words/claims are up to you. Outside of their claims, it's arguable if they're REALLY adding more of if they're just blowing smoke. Some say it's true and they're doing more and others say it's nothing but smoke. Seemingly, no one can prove it one way or another definitively. The most common defense for saying they're doing more: No Android-BlackBerry device has been rooted thus far.

Originally Posted by HostessCupcake

I have the KEYone for Verizon, but it has a ton of reception issues. Warranty support has been nonexistent (emailed them days ago, have heard nothing) and the whole delayed launch process and attitude of the company has put me off.

So I'm thinking of getting the Moto Z + physical keyboard mod when it comes out. But I am concerned because Lenovo has been caught installing spyware in their phones.

I've heard about BlackBerry's "hardened kernel" and whatnot but have no idea what that means.

In layman's terms, how is BlackBerry's version of Android more secure?

Looks like you are looking for a reason to keep your K1. If you got the update, BlackBerry did release a new diagnostic app about two weeks ago. It may help you determine if you have a hardware issue. A factory reset sometimes helps as well. It seems not everyone is having reception issues, so I suppose it all depends how patient you are...

Record of being the quickest to deliver android security patches? I'm still sitting on the April update wondering where that BlackBerry monthly reputation wondered off to...

Originally Posted by Bla1ze

FWIW...



*Based on older posts, hence no mention of newer devices

tl;dr: BlackBerry takes additional measures of security and implements them into their devices from the ground up that other OEM's are just simply not doing.

Disclaimer: How much stock you put into their words/claims are up to you. Outside of their claims, it's arguable if they're REALLY adding more of if they're just blowing smoke. Some say it's true and they're doing more and others say it's nothing but smoke. Seemingly, no one can prove it one way or another definitively. The most common defense for saying they're doing more: No Android-BlackBerry device has been rooted thus far.

Personally I think the best way to answer that question...based on BlackBerry's claims of course...is that Android has a range of security features available to any OEM that are always being improved upon with each subsequent OS update (and patch). It is up to each individual OEM, and carriers, to implement their own security policies based on the general framework established firstly by Google via each major OS update, and secondly via Google's monthly security patches for each (supported) OS version.

In other words...it is not so much that "BlackBerry's version" of Android is inherently more secure, but they have chosen to implement the full ( / fuller) range of security features available, which includes at the hardware level (unrootable, encryption keys) and proprietary full disk encryption, neither of which are standard features on any other Android phone.