Using an Android phone for confidential documents

[lvt]

So I have about 30GB of confidential documents including scans, photos, videos... I don't trust any cloud storage service so I were thinking about using an Android phone as a secure vault to store those stuffs.

The idea is to use a dedicated smartphone with Andoid 6.0 and a large SD card to form a secure and portable storage device.

1. Factory reset the phone to have a fresh hardware.

2. Remove all network settings including Google credentials, the phone is now a standalone device.

3. Encrypt the phone.

4. Insert a brand-new SD card and format it as internal memory so the content of the SD card is secured.

5. Set a strong password for the phone.

6. Disable the add user feature.

7. Use AppLock app to prevent access to the phone's apps and settings (second security layer).

8. Set auto-sleep to 1 minute so the phone would lock itself after 1 minute if I forget it somewhere.

After all those steps I should have a quite secure storage device, the only way to transfer files to/from the phone is to use an USB cable, and the password is needed for that purpose.

Please share your thoughts and advises.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

30GB is a pretty hefty amount of confidential data to store on an encrypted Android. Personally I'd keep backups of backups due to the unpredictability of Android itself, it'd scare me. I've had a small handful of them that just randomly perma-loop etc...

Blackberry's newest OS 10.3.3 is NIAP compliant, and to me they're way more stable/reliable and much more secure. Best part is, any of them (Z series, Q series are dirt cheap on ebay) and they can all be upgraded to 10.3.3.xxxx ----- They will support up to a 64GB SDcard

Not fluffing BB up any, I just wouldn't trust an Android to hold important stuff like that

 

[dontpanicbobby]

The POTUS does. That's one thing I like about President Trump. Why'd they keep harping on his phone?

 

[mikedt]

30GB is a pretty hefty amount of confidential data to store on an encrypted Android. Personally I'd keep backups of backups due to the unpredictability of Android itself, it'd scare me. I've had a small handful of them that just randomly perma-loop etc...

Blackberry's newest OS 10.3.3 is NIAP compliant, and to me they're way more stable/reliable and much more secure. Best part is, any of them (Z series, Q series are dirt cheap on ebay) and they can all be upgraded to 10.3.3.xxxx ----- They will support up to a 64GB SDcard

Not fluffing BB up any, I just wouldn't trust an Android to hold important stuff like that

You do know that Blackberry's latest phones are all Android? Blackberry OS is now discontinued, last updated three years ago, AFAIK.

BTW I've not seen a Blackberry device in quite a long time, and the last memorable one I saw was an AT&T branded Blackberry Torch being thrown to its death from a rooftop in Zhuhai, because the thing wouldn't work with China Mobile.

 

[mikedt]

So I have about 30GB of confidential documents including scans, photos, videos... I don't trust any cloud storage service so I were thinking about using an Android phone as a secure vault to store those stuffs.

The idea is to use a dedicated smartphone with Andoid 6.0 and a large SD card to form a secure and portable storage device.

1. Factory reset the phone to have a fresh hardware.

2. Remove all network settings including Google credentials, the phone is now a standalone device.

3. Encrypt the phone.

4. Insert a brand-new SD card and format it as internal memory so the content of the SD card is secured.

5. Set a strong password for the phone.

6. Disable the add user feature.

7. Use AppLock app to prevent access to the phone's apps and settings (second security layer).

8. Set auto-sleep to 1 minute so the phone would lock itself after 1 minute if I forget it somewhere.

After all those steps I should have a quite secure storage device, the only way to transfer files to/from the phone is to use an USB cable, and the password is needed for that purpose.

Please share your thoughts and advises.

So it's only secure storage you're after and nothing else. Put it all on a strongly encrypted USB stick, which is very portable of course. I presume you have a computer, where the data is coming from.

 

[mikedt]

The POTUS does. That's one thing I like about President Trump. Why'd they keep harping on his phone?

Is the POTUS using a Blackberry Priv or KeyOne is he? Both of which are Android of course.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

You do know that Blackberry's latest phones are all Android? Blackberry OS is now discontinued, last updated three years ago, AFAIK.

LOL the new Blackberrys aren't Blackberrys; they're Androids running BB's DTEK security and have BBM installed. I should have clarified, a true BB 10 phone (Z, Q, Passport, Leap, P'9983). BBOS 10 is still active and supported; the latest 10.3.3 NIAP update became available to some devices 11/2016, others had to wait until recently, depending on carrier.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

@mikedt A Galaxy of course. His staff has the iPhone.

We live in interesting times.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

Is the POTUS using a Blackberry Priv or KeyOne is he? Both of which are Android of course.

Rumor was they wanted him to at least get an iphone for security reasons, he was a Galaxy S* user lol....

I dunno if I'd take Google's recent claim about their devices being just as secure as an iphone seriously. They didn't claim this until after they had a run with the Priv and DTEK combo. I have read that BB's entailed software makes the PRIV and DTEK 5/6 phones a lot more secure. So mayhaps he does have KeyOne?

 

[dontpanicbobby]

@lvt Sorry for hijacking this thread.

AFAIK. An individual Android phone has never had a serious hacking attack that worked.

The thumbdrive angle sounds good... But i hate dongles.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

@lvt Sorry for hijacking this thread.

AFAIK. An individual Android phone has never had a serious hacking attack that worked.

The thumbdrive angle sounds good... But i hate dongles.

My mistrust of android is more because of the instability factor. Plus MM and nougat have already shown some problems playing nice with SD cards?

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Don't use Adoptable storage Spec2nirvash. Ran it since the HTC 10 came out and saw no noticeable improvments. Top of the line MicroUSB card too!

Back on topic:

The Blackphone was supposed to be the most secure Android phone.

Android is really secure.

 

[psionandy]

How are you backing up that vital data... (including any changes you make, or additions you do on the device itself)?

 

[lvt]

30GB is a pretty hefty amount of confidential data to store on an encrypted Android. Personally I'd keep backups of backups due to the unpredictability of Android itself, it'd scare me. I've had a small handful of them that just randomly perma-loop etc...

Blackberry's newest OS 10.3.3 is NIAP compliant, and to me they're way more stable/reliable and much more secure. Best part is, any of them (Z series, Q series are dirt cheap on ebay) and they can all be upgraded to 10.3.3.xxxx ----- They will support up to a 64GB SDcard

Not fluffing BB up any, I just wouldn't trust an Android to hold important stuff like that

I have owned a dozen Android devices for the past years, none of the devices has serious problem other than battery life or storage shortage on older ones. BB has good hardware and software but the future is uncertain. I prefer to stay with Android for better compatibility in the long terms.

 

[lvt]

How are you backing up that vital data... (including any changes you make, or additions you do on the device itself)?

I have all those data stored on a computer, compressed and encrypted as well.

I want to use an Android phone to carry the data with me because I still can watch the clips or listen to the audio files on the go if needed. I would add some files from time to time but it's an easy task.

 

[lvt]

The thumbdrive angle sounds good... But i hate dongles.

It's not helpful in my case, I need to access the content from time to time, I can't carry a laptop computer just to listen to some audios or view some docs when I'm on a flight or a train. My smartphone with 5.5" HD display and 64GB SD card capacity can do the job better than any laptop.

So the question is what would happen if someone steals my phone ? It's not connected to any network so it's impossible to erase the content remotely. I could just rely on the hardware / software's security feature to keep the data safe.

I don't care if that person makes a factory reset and use the phone on his own (it could be a good thing LOL).