Android was in headlines recently after the FBI cracked the Trump’s shooters phone within minutes.
Android 15 coincidentally has some interesting new security features. My speculation was the incident created some bad PR for Google.
Top two new features:
Lockdown mode on android will apply restrict USB mode, allowing for charge only connections (no data transfer). Android says this is to prevent ‘juice jacking attacks’. However it seems this mitigation would also discourage forensic acquisition of the device. Curious to see how this implementation compares to Graphene OS’s lockdown mode.
Private spaces. Looks like an encrypted container within the android system. Seems to have potential plausible deniability that the private space is in fact there.
This thread and this one (from the GOS forum) implies that the “lockdown” feature in GrapheneOS is simply an AOSP feature. And this thread touches on why a simple restart (to achieve BFU state) is preferable.
(edit: I don’t have any firsthand knowledge on the topic, I hadn’t heard of the lockdown feature in Android until today, just relaying what I read read over on the GOS forum)
yea lockdown mode on android is pretty underwhelming. just puts your device to the mode right after reboot but right before first unlock. no anti-fingerprinting measures, attack reduction etc.
