[veganInside]

Hi, I'm just wondering what would be a better choice in terms of secutiry and privacity for a basic phone usage (mail, calls, texting), As in 2020 even "newer" BB Android devices are reaching their End Of Live, so no more secutity updates soon.
BB10 its unsuported but in terms of privacity I think its much better than BB Android, as Its UnGoogled by default, and there are no Bloatware risks from TCL and their APPs.
Security is another of my concerns as I dont know with combination of hardware and Software could be a better choice, but I think that latest security updates are found on newer devices.

What are your thoughts about it?

Cheers.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Security and Privacy.... you really have to go with something that's still in development and being patched. BlackBerry that would be a KEY2 or KEY2 LE.

BB10... for the price I wouldn't rule it out. If a $50 Classic is not much more than a night out, go for it. If does mail, calls and texting and within that limited use you should be just fine. Now if you need apps, and to use the browser a lot.... or if $50 is a big investment - no it's not worth it.

But if in general... Best OS for security and privacy out of the box, at this point is probably iOS. You can tame Android, with some work...

[Chuck Finley69]

I'd lean towards iOS as well in 2020 for similarly reasons to why people favored BBOS and BB10 in the old days.

[jetscre]

old days? I still use BB10 :P

[Troy Tiscareno]

For someone that knows nothing about security and privacy settings and configuration, iOS is probably the better choice. For those with some knowledge or a willingness to do some Googling and following some directions, Android can be made far more secure and private than iOS, but you are going to have to spend 2-3 hours (maybe 30 minutes if you have done it a couple of times) to get it done.

[pgg101]

Nothing really. Android is android so it's real hit and miss. iOS isn't that much better but probably a wee bit. BB10 hasn't been updated in years so lots of bugs and security threats have been unleashed since.

All you can do is pick good passwords and hope for the best. If hackers don't hack your phone, they will hack the company of the device or app you use and steal information that is sold to the dark web.

Just get a feature phone and a notebook. Problem solved.

[fschmeck]

I'm curious what the recommended options are to make Androids better for privacy. Short of rooting, I'm not sure what options are feasible. Security I suppose can be done, but protecting privacy seems pretty tough when google is leeching my location data even when I don't use the gps.

I suspect iOS is the better option now

[Troy Tiscareno]

You can go into your Google account settings and turn off a lot of stuff that you can't turn off on the phone itself. And on the phone, you can install firewalls, IP and DNS filters, use a VPN, and a number of other things. Most of those can't be done on iOS.

[chetmanley]

I'm curious what the recommended options are to make Androids better for privacy. Short of rooting, I'm not sure what options are feasible. Security I suppose can be done, but protecting privacy seems pretty tough when google is leeching my location data even when I don't use the gps.

I suspect iOS is the better option now

Hi,

As @Troy Tiscareno described, you can try the following:

Remove Google from the phone:
https://forums.crackberry.com/blackb...esome-1114355/

Disable system apps which send telemetry:
https://forums.crackberry.com/blackb...ethod-1168996/

Install a firewall app and route connections through tor:
https://forums.crackberry.com/blackb...orbot-1134676/

Cheers

[bakron1]

I would say go with iOS, updates are done on a regular basis and it’s simplicity is why it’s so popular.

[Troy Tiscareno]

I would say go with iOS, updates are done on a regular basis and it’s simplicity is why it’s so popular.

True, but you must be able to accept the many limitations that come with this compromise. Many can and are happy to do so. Not many power users find it so easy though.

[melhiore]

What are your thoughts about it?

If you want security and privacy you probably need to move to northern Canada and live off grid. World is becoming more and more connected. There is no security, there is no more privacy. I work in DevSecOps in my place, what is going on around is not only scary but also indicates that so called hackers have MASSIVE advantage over any slow thinking/slow performing vendor of any kit... Yes, you can limit your foot print but it is nowhere near TRUE security and privacy...

[chain13]

If you don't want to work around, get iOS, and only use some trusted services with it. But if you don't mind to do some work, go with android and tame it. You'll need to rely to 3rd party apps (browser, adtrack blocker, etc etc). Also be careful with services you're using.

[Trouveur]

Sailfish OS.

[chetmanley]

I'm experimenting with Sailfish X on an Xperia 10.

I plan on dedicating a thread to the pros and cons as I see them compared to BB Android, but in the few days I've had with this new OS, this is what I've found:

- Very BB10 like gesture based interface. And it's a beautiful interface as well.
- Can run Android 8.1 applications
- The camera software is terrible. Even when it was running android, the Xperia 10 camera wasn't stellar (Key 1 and 2 cameras are actually quite good in comparison), but now that the camera is relying on a 3rd party app, the quality is noticeably worse with very few features.

Security:
Sailfish X only just recently added LUKS encryption support - however at the moment the only way to set a password is with a pin (up to 42 digits).

https://together.jolla.com/question/...ption-useless/

So compared to BB Android, Sailfish at present is no where near as secure.

Privacy:

I'm still learning how to assess this. Linux is very different from Android and there are a lot of terminal commands I'm trying to learn to take full advantage of Sailfish.

First thing I tried to do was get a system wide Tor daemon running, however I'm having trouble setting up a proxy to actually connect to this daemon once its running.

According to some threads I found, the "Global Proxy" option doesn't actually appear to work at all.

So all that said, I've still got a ways to go with learning Sailfish X, but with the limited time I've had with it, I haven't yet found a compelling reason to make it my daily driver. Properly configured BB Android is still more secure due to BB's boot protections and likely more private due to the ease of setting up a firewall on Android. I'm still researching if there is a user-friendly app for Sailfish, but it's probably going to come down to using IP tables.

[CNX66]

Hi, I'm just wondering what would be a better choice in terms of secutiry and privacity for a basic phone usage (mail, calls, texting), As in 2020 even "newer" BB Android devices are reaching their End Of Live, so no more secutity updates soon.
BB10 its unsuported but in terms of privacity I think its much better than BB Android, as Its UnGoogled by default, and there are no Bloatware risks from TCL and their APPs.
Security is another of my concerns as I dont know with combination of hardware and Software could be a better choice, but I think that latest security updates are found on newer devices.

What are your thoughts about it?

Cheers.

- MDM controlled OS iOS or Android latest version.
- Containerized mailbox like BB Work
- Encrypted IM/Voice by Signal, BBM BBM Enterprise or else.
- No SD card or USB Tethering allowed by MDM
- No Wifi without VPN allowed


...

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

If you want security and privacy you probably need to move to northern Canada and live off grid. World is becoming more and more connected. There is no security, there is no more privacy. I work in DevSecOps in my place, what is going on around is not only scary but also indicates that so called hackers have MASSIVE advantage over any slow thinking/slow performing vendor of any kit... Yes, you can limit your foot print but it is nowhere near TRUE security and privacy...

Why I stopped banking with my local bank....

[Chuck Finley69]

Why I stopped banking with my local bank....

So now you’re Bitcoin exclusive?

[Troy Tiscareno]

Sailfish OS.

Not even remotely true.

Security and privacy are two different (though often related) things, and there are hundreds of vectors to attack security and attack privacy, and just keeping up-to-date on 10 or 20 of those vectors is a full-time job, which is why the Apples, Googles, and Samsungs of the world have over 100 security experts each working on their OSs - developers with nothing else to do but deal with those issues. This is necessary because security and privacy are direct enemies of features, usability, and convenience, and so a very careful balance has to be made. It's not super difficult to make a very secure and very private OS - it just won't be able to do very much that's useful. As soon as you want more utility and features, it gets exponentially more complicated.

The work done by Jolla to date is commendable, but they simply don't have nearly enough resources to keep up, much less catch up, to the modern standards set by iOS and Android.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Not even remotely true.

Security and privacy are two different (though often related) things, and there are hundreds of vectors to attack security and attack privacy, and just keeping up-to-date on 10 or 20 of those vectors is a full-time job, which is why the Apples, Googles, and Samsungs of the world have over 100 security experts each working on their OSs - developers with nothing else to do but deal with those issues. This is necessary because security and privacy are direct enemies of features, usability, and convenience, and so a very careful balance has to be made. It's not super difficult to make a very secure and very private OS - it just won't be able to do very much that's useful. As soon as you want more utility and features, it gets exponentially more complicated.

The work done by Jolla to date is commendable, but they simply don't have nearly enough resources to keep up, much less catch up, to the modern standards set by iOS and Android.

Per LinkedIn they have 58 employees spread out over three locations... half of which are probably support and sales.

And now that Russia has the "code" and is using Sailfish to build their own OS....

[Troy Tiscareno]

BB at one point had 13,000 employees, and at BB10 launch had 7800 (not counting thousands of contracted out store reps), of which about 4000 were developers of some kind. And BB was the smallest company attempting their own platform, though about the same size as Palm if I remember correctly.

The point being that mainstream features and functionality, with security, adds tons of big and small complications to the point where you need lots of subject matter experts with a depth of knowledge of their area of responsibility. That means a big headcount and big payroll. If you don't have that, then you will end up with a very long list of issues that you can't address due to lack of knowledge or resources.

[idssteve]

Not aiming to hijack but, within realm of topic, can anyone offer insight into specific exposures posed with OS7.1 ? ??

[bakron1]

BB at one point had 13,000 employees, and at BB10 launch had 7800 (not counting thousands of contracted out store reps), of which about 4000 were developers of some kind. And BB was the smallest company attempting their own platform, though about the same size as Palm if I remember correctly.

The point being that mainstream features and functionality, with security, adds tons of big and small complications to the point where you need lots of subject matter experts with a depth of knowledge of their area of responsibility. That means a big headcount and big payroll. If you don't have that, then you will end up with a very long list of issues that you can't address due to lack of knowledge or resources.

Very well put and so true, most folks have no clue as the the manpower and resources required to develop and maintain an operating system.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Not aiming to hijack but, within realm of topic, can anyone offer insight into specific exposures posed with OS7.1 ? ??

Not really... as no one in security has cared about it in years. Last I could find was back in 2015 https://www.stigviewer.com/stig/blackberry_os_7.x.x/

But EOL from the OEM, means End of Use for most concerned with security.


Using a UEM that locks down the phone and keeps everything internal to the corporate network and email systems... should limit most those vulnerabilities. But then it also limits the user as well.

[Sigewif]

Hi, I'm just wondering what would be a better choice in terms of secutiry and privacity for a basic phone usage (mail, calls, texting), As in 2020 even "newer" BB Android devices are reaching their End Of Live, so no more secutity updates soon.
BB10 its unsuported but in terms of privacity I think its much better than BB Android, as Its UnGoogled by default, and there are no Bloatware risks from TCL and their APPs.
Security is another of my concerns as I dont know with combination of hardware and Software could be a better choice, but I think that latest security updates are found on newer devices.

What are your thoughts about it?

Cheers.

I am excited about, and now using, the new BlackBerry Cylance anti virus software for Android phones. I bought a Cylance subscription for my PCs and with that I was able to sign up for their beta version of mobile protection in my KEYone. I got a license for 10 devices. The mobile version is in beta so it doesn't use one of the licenses. However, it appears you need at least one extra license to initiate the process.