The hidden risk in Blackphone’s “secure” communications. Messaging, cheap phones, and the tensions between the telecom industry and web companies have been the overriding themes at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), an annual telecom-industry gathering in Barcelona this week.
But another current has been flowing underneath the surface: security and privacy. Also at the MWC this week, a company called SPG Technologies launched the Blackphone, which according to the press release is “the world’s first smartphone which places privacy and control directly in the hands of its users.” This it does. The phone uses a version of Android software without any Google apps or services. In their place, Blackphone comes unlocked and features several pre-installed privacy tools, all of which are fully enabled for at least two years of usage. That’s great. Sebastian Anthony at ITProPortal explains: “Your phone’s baseband—the device that handles negotiation with cell towers and other messy stuff—is essentially a black box, with its own CPU and operating system. Blackphone: A Phone for the Age of Snowden. Around midnight on Tuesday of last week, people near the barricaded city square at the center of mass protests in Kiev, Ukraine, received an ominous text message: “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance.”
The message was most likely sent by the Ukrainian government using what’s popularly known as an “I.M.S.I. catcher”—a controversial tool that disguises itself as a cell-phone tower so that nearby devices connect to it, revealing their locations and serial numbers and, sometimes, the contents of outgoing messages. It was a bleak reminder of how cell phones, one of the past decade’s most indispensable and ubiquitous pieces of technology, can silently leave their owners exposed to governments and high-tech criminals.
A number of companies have emerged in the post-Snowden world peddling products that claim to protect from that kind of unwanted surveillance. Still, Silent Circle has seen its subscriber base expand since the Snowden revelations. How Would You Like A Smartphone That's Designed To Squash The NSA? (VIDEO) A new mobile phone is being developed by a company called Silent Circle with an aim at protecting consumer’s privacy.
The ‘Blackphone’ will apparently run a “security oriented” version of Android called PrivatOS, and is being put together by a team of world-renowned cryptographers in order to evade surveillance. But can it evade the NSA? The company Blackphone is claiming that users of their device will be able to securely place and receive phone calls, text message and video chats, as well as store files securely and totally anonymize activity through a Virtual Private Network. The phone is expected to be available on February 24th. It was originally conceived by the head of Silent Circle in order to ensure that Blackphone users will have ”everything they need to ensure privacy and control of their communications, along with all the other high-end smartphone features they have come to expect.”
Related. Blackphone: a privacy-oriented, high-end, unlocked phone. Meet Blackphone, a privacy-centric handset from some serious security veterans. In case you weren’t sure, your phone is not truly secure.
The NSA and who-knows-who-else can hack into iPhone, Android and even BlackBerry devices. So here, finally, is a device that promises privacy in your pocket. Meet the Blackphone. The first thing you need to worry about with promises like these is who’s behind them. In this case, it’s a solid crew – Blackphone comes from Silent Circle, the secure communications firm founded by PGP creator Phil Zimmermann and Jon Callas, which has set up a joint venture with the small Spanish handset maker Geeksphone.
Blackphone uses a security-focused version of Android called PrivatOS, that should be able to run all the normal Android apps. Zimmermann said in a statement: “I have spent my whole career working towards the launch of secure telephony products. Callas added a bit more detail in a video on the Blackphone website, saying: There could be a huge market for this device in business and also in the public sector.