
Do computer security guys use smartphones? - tokhi
Privacy with a smartphone is really challenging; if you are one of the security guys then how do you manage to have privacy?
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davismwfl
I am not a security guy, but I keep a tablet that is void of all personal
information, uses no Google, Amazon services, has no email accounts on it, has
no banking or financial applications, no pictures, no social media etc. It
doesn't even have my name anywhere on it. The only thing that ties me to it is
likely the wifi data that it stores. I also routinely will wipe it and start
over.

Why do I do this? Well, it lets me have an anonymous web experience overall. I
started it when I needed a way to test work I was doing but making sure that
it was a "clean" experience. e.g. I didn't have something loaded or cached
that would mess up my testing or the results. Then over time I figured out it
is nice too because if someone needs to borrow a tablet for something real
quick or needs to look something up I will hand it to them and I have no
worries over anything they might see/do.

If I was doing security work, I don't think it would stop me from having a
smart phone, but it would depend what type of security work. If being
anonymous and hidden was the goal, I sure wouldn't have a smart phone, or any
permanent phone for that matter.

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tokhi
nice tips, however you may still be verified by your Mac-Address and IP. BTW
you can use Tor browser for anonymous browsing
[https://www.torproject.org/](https://www.torproject.org/) its encrypted &
even your location is different in each session.

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davismwfl
Good point on the mac address/IP, and that does happen you can tell with
targeted ads and re-marketing campaigns. But at least it is a little more
clean. And my main goal originally was to test mobile Safari vs Chrome etc on
sites I created or to load up an app to test it in a clean environment. Then
it expanded to hey, this works really well for keeping things pretty clean and
I don't have to worry about what someone might see on the tablet itself.

Also works great for public places where even if I use it to play on wifi and
someone cracks into it, they won't see anything but my browsing history
overall (and wifi connections). I am sure there are a few more things they
could find, but nothing I'd feel bad about being lost I don't think. And since
I never access my email or anything on it that won't be there.

I do leave wifi (and bluetooth) off on my phone and don't ever connect my
phone to wifi or bluetooth except at home. I know people can still likely get
into it through other means, but reducing the attack surface by turning off
wifi and bluetooth seems reasonable and is easy enough. Curious how much
protection it adds though, cause sometimes it is inconvenient not to just jump
on wifi to speed things up or just to get a connection.

And I have played with Tor some, but haven't yet really gotten into it. I need
to explore it some more if for nothing else to learn it and understand it
better.

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CiPHPerCoder
I have an Android phone running Cyanogen. I mostly don't install anything ever
(other than Signal).

No games, no social media apps, etc. I also have Spotify because I mostly
listen to music rather than make phone calls.

I rarely browse the web on my phone, unless I'm testing a mobile application.

I refuse to install Telegram.

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chatmasta
In my personal experience, the more I learn about security, the more cynical I
become that privacy has any chance in modern society. There is a staggering
amount of realtime, personally identifying (meta-)data available to a growing
number of companies. It's truly scary, but I fear there is little to be done
except prepare for the inevitable. Privacy is on its way to extinction. Adapt
or die.

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herbst
I am not a security guy but i use my smartphone as "walled environment" i do
nothing on it that could potentially lead to issues except maybe some google
services. But anything Banking or Bitcoin has never seen my phone at all.

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tokhi
google services are quite something... :)

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herbst
true, but without those there would be no point in having a smart phone. (yet)

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dpeck
in my experience security guys and privacy guys are very different people.
Theres a lot of overlap in interest and skillset at lower levels but it
usually diverges hard with experience.

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sidcool
I knew a few who used Cyongen mod devices.

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tokhi
Oh, I didn't know about this, need to explore it. Thanks.

