[morfinpower]

World�s most secure Android phone vows to �replace� and �dominate� BlackBerry

How hard is is to �dominate� a company whose mobile platform has an estimated 0.4% of the market? Probably more difficult than Silent Circle, the company behind the security-centric Blackphone, thinks. As Gizmodo reports, Silent Circle security specialist Mike Janke was positively beating his chest at Mobile World Congress this week talking about the new Blackphone 2, which he implied spells the end of BlackBerry once and for all.

�We�re replacing BlackBerry, we don�t care that BlackBerry�s CEO is throwing nasty things about us onto Twitter,� he said. �We�re going to dominate them.�

Why are we skeptical of this happening? Largely because Silent Circle made similar boasts about the Blackphone last year and its security didn�t quite live up to the hype. In fact, last summer one hacker managed to figure out how to root the Blackphone in a mere five minutes, although the company quickly issued a patch to fix this particular vulnerability.

Then again, Blackphone is adding a lot more security features to its new devices so we�ll just have to wait and see how well they hold up. In the meantime, though, we should also remember that the remaining BlackBerry diehards are fiercely loyal and aren�t going to be swept away by an upstart Android manufacturer anytime soon, even if it does deliver on its security promises.

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[jdesignz]

Eh di, wow!

Pasaporte Pilipinas | SQW100-1/10.3.2.680

[ivantoothache]

Okay... eh di wow!

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[eyeb]

and yet... no matter how secure the phone is, I know nothing of the company... I could care less if no one is able to hack the OS if the company behind it is selling the info... not that I'm implying that they do, but I know nothing of what their company and policies.

[Dave Bourque]

The Typo of security? Lol

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[Poi25]

Oh ******* please. I don't know anything about Blackphone as a company, but if I had to guess, I'd say a company like BlackBerry who's been focused on security forever and is well established isn't going to be taken over by a fledgling startup who uses a less secure OS as the foundation of their product.

Logical?

[BBlunatic]

And It's Still Android OS.....

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[Viet Ton]

You literally can't spell security with android.

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[deadcowboy]

BlackPhone is a joke. What little trackrecord it does have is a poor showing at a security/hackers conference.

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[bhoqeem]

Overpriced, too. Way so. Cute.
Claimed to be the most secure phone, using the old version of android? Really?
wow.

[AnimalPak200]

You should probably include a link to the article, although you copied the whole thing anyway.

http://bgr.com/2015/03/02/blackphone...erry-passport/

Also, I think forum rules 'suggest' you need to add your thoughts about whatever it is you are linking to.

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[dbmalloy]

Hmmm.... 2 month old article from BGR .... that bastion of BB Support ( sarcasm )..... spelling errors to boot.... troll much....

[anon9347040]

Before this article, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Blackphone let alone a Blackphone 2.

I find it hard to believe that such a company can take on one like BlackBerry and win. It's more likely that this Silent Circle is fattening itself up for a takeover bid of some kind with all of this big talk; creating hype.

I see no mention of any Blackphone devices with PKBs, yet this is one of BlackBerry's unique differentiations. While it is true that BlackBerry offers full touchscreen phones, its PKB devices are what it is known for. So unless Noisy Circle plans to release Blackphones with high security and PKBs, declaring their intention to replace BlackBerry is nothing but hot air.

And the idea of Android and security together is laughable.

-- Passport, VMO, Toronto CA

[Trauma Surgeon]

Runs Android. Headquarters in Switzerland? Hmm, no thanks. Obama & other politicians use Blackberry for a reason. Android? So Google can read all your messages? No thank you.

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[joekiser]

This is a hardened Android, from what I read, without Google Play Services. That gives it about as many apps out of the box as BB10. It is probably still using OpenSSL and SELinux, although it's hard to know for sure since the OS is closed source (GPL violation?). And with that, there's no way to audit the OS to make sure it really is secure, so like BlackBerry, you're taking their word for it, and the small sample size thus far reveals it has a worse track record than BB10.

At the end of the day, BB10 has a physical keyboard, and nobody else does. Security is a moot point; most of you are already running Android apps, some even from shady .apk download sites. In the trade-off between security and convenience, for me the physical keyboard wins out. If BlackPhone can raise the bar for Android security, more power to them.

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[shotgunboss]

https://blog.blackphone.ch/2015/04/1...-1-1-2-update/
still prone too android hacks and cracks, even tho its the most secure OS on the planet

[david7saad]

Hello 5 minutes

[Dave Bourque]

https://blog.blackphone.ch/2015/04/1...-1-1-2-update/
still prone too android hacks and cracks, even tho its the most secure OS on the planet

You can't be the most secure in that case..

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[sunnys1]

You can't be the most secure in that case..

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Google ruined it for everyone

[anon(9169048)]

"..........we don’t care that BlackBerry’s CEO is throwing nasty things about us onto Twitter” Um, Blackphone gets zero mention in Chen's Twitter feed, not a single solitary word.

[kbz1960]

This is a hardened Android, from what I read, without Google Play Services. That gives it about as many apps out of the box as BB10. It is probably still using OpenSSL and SELinux, although it's hard to know for sure since the OS is closed source (GPL violation?). And with that, there's no way to audit the OS to make sure it really is secure, so like BlackBerry, you're taking their word for it, and the small sample size thus far reveals it has a worse track record than BB10.

At the end of the day, BB10 has a physical keyboard, and nobody else does. Security is a moot point; most of you are already running Android apps, some even from shady .apk download sites. In the trade-off between security and convenience, for me the physical keyboard wins out. If BlackPhone can raise the bar for Android security, more power to them.

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What does a PKB have to do with security?

[sorinv]

But he is right about security and android apps running on BlackBerry.
If you use android apps, you and your blackberry are not secure. You are monitored just like any android user.

[Dave Bourque]

But he is right about security and android apps running on BlackBerry.
If you use android apps, you and your blackberry are not secure. You are monitored just like any android user.

Except it is not. It's fenced, sandboxed. There's only so much access.

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[eyeb]

Except it is not. It's fenced, sandboxed. There's only so much access.

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how so? I thought the sandbox was just because we don't have root access... or rather, is it even built into the runtime?

[sorinv]

Except it is not. It's fenced, sandboxed. There's only so much access.

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At the very least they have access to my files and location. For me that is lack of security, because those are my data and I cannot deny the android apps access to them.
The fact that I or android apps don't have root access does not make my data secure.

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