Roms,firewalls and stuff

[alexopoulos]

Hi All,

Been looking over some seriously sweet android phones. Based on a bad experience of a friend, I'm trying to determine how secure these phones can be.

A few questions please:

What's the best ROM from a privacy standpoint?

Would I be able to ensure my phone never synced with *any* storage service on the net -- I'm aware of the menu setting for syncing and I've personally seen it bypassed. Would I be able to keep the phone from communicating with google?

Can I obtain apps from somewhere other than the google store?

Any questions I should be asking? Any advice? Thx.

 

[ocnbrze]

Hi All,

Been looking over some seriously sweet android phones. Based on a bad experience of a friend, I'm trying to determine how secure these phones can be.

A few questions please:

What's the best ROM from a privacy standpoint?

Would I be able to ensure my phone never synced with *any* storage service on the net -- I'm aware of the menu setting for syncing and I've personally seen it bypassed. Would I be able to keep the phone from communicating with google?

Can I obtain apps from somewhere other than the google store?

Any questions I should be asking? Any advice? Thx.

welcome to the forums!!!!!!!!!!

if you are talking about roms as in unrooted stoc roms, then i would suggest any phone that has the bootloader locked down would the the way to go. most phone manufacturers these days are going with locked bootloaders so you should be fine with those phones. i have an htc evo 4g lte that has a locked bootloader.

and yes you can obtain apps from other then google's play store:
AppBrain
Amazon App Store

those would be the only ones that i would recommend. you have to be careful on other sites that offer android apps.

 

[alexopoulos]

I'm only interested in aftermarket ROM's without Carrier IQ and other malware that may be lurking these days. I very much appreciate the tip that your phone has a locked bootloader -- nice as it is -- I sure can't use a stock ROM.....

 

[jefboyardee]

Carrier IQ and other malware

While its intentions became questionable over time, Carrier IQ was never what we call malware per se...

Carrier IQ is a privately owned mobile software company founded in 2005 in Mountain View, California. It provides diagnostic analysis of smartphones to the wireless industry.
​

I downgraded from Gingerbread to Froyo and had to accept the return of Carrier IQ as part of the deal. And while I have no idea what’s being released as a result, the OS works just fine. I’d have no idea what’s being released anyway, with or without CIQ riding along.

Gingerbread – released without CIQ – acted like it was programmed by evil drunks. And in case anyone wonders, the Optimus dead-ends at Gingerbread.

 

[ocnbrze]

I'm only interested in aftermarket ROM's without Carrier IQ and other malware that may be lurking these days. I very much appreciate the tip that your phone has a locked bootloader -- nice as it is -- I sure can't use a stock ROM.....

well then you want to root your phone, but keep this in mind that rooting usually uses an exploit to gain root access. exploits are weakness in the phone and as part of the rooting process. also depening on the root process of the phone you man need to get your securities turned off. this is kind of like getting administrator rights turned off.but most custom roms will have bloatware and even carrier iq removed.

 

[Gmash]

DroidWall is a great app that will block any app you choose from accessing data. For rooted phones, but if you are wanting to use a custom ROM, you will obviously be rooted.

 

[Crashdamage]

Be aware that rooting your phone is itself somewhat of a security risk as you are then using your device with root (aka administrator) privileges rather than user privileges. Not really a *huge* concern, but it's there and potentially far more serious than the other things you're worried about.

I'm very security-conscious. I no longer ever root my daily driver device. I won't use Windows for online purchases, banking, bill paying, etc, only my secure Linux box. But I don't worry about cloud storage. I'll leave it at that.

 

[alexopoulos]

Be aware that rooting your phone is itself somewhat of a security risk as you are then using your device with root (aka administrator) privileges rather than user privileges. Not really a *huge* concern, but it's there and potentially far more serious than the other things you're worried about.

I'm very security-conscious. I no longer ever root my daily driver device. I won't use Windows for online purchases, banking, bill paying, etc, only my secure Linux box. But I don't worry about cloud storage. I'll leave it at that.

I'm very familiar with Linux. Love it.

On the phone, I was thinking about trying on CyanogenMod for for size. After it's installed, could I de-escalate to ordinary privileges?

 

[alexopoulos]

While its intentions became questionable over time, Carrier IQ was never what we call malware per se...

I would argue that since this keylogger is hidden and eavesdropping on unknowing Android phone users ....... it qualifies as malware. It's my personal belief that no legitimate wireless company operates like this. It's a sign of a company totally out of control and quite possibly harboring questionable intentions.

What's worse is that some people are using Android phones and they still have never heard that their phone is running spyware.

 

[ocnbrze]

I'm very familiar with Linux. Love it.

On the phone, I was thinking about trying on CyanogenMod for for size. After it's installed, could I de-escalate to ordinary privileges?

de-escalate? not sure what you mean. if you mean to turn your securities back on, then that will depend on what phone we are talking about. different phones will require different ways to root it. you can re-lock the phone, if you only unlocked (at least with htc devices, not sure on other phones).