From 98a01bdecb0a48b1dd91edccadc413ed58c259b8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: inference
I run the public Systems Hardening XMPP channel dedicated to systems security
- and privacy hardening at sys-hardening@muc.xmpp.inferencium.net
,
- and its respective off-topic channel at
- sys-hardening-ot@muc.xmpp.inferencium.net
.
I run multiple XMPP channels; a directory of channels can be found on the + directory + webpage.
If you wish to contact me for any reason, you can use my contact methods.
Type | -Hardware | -Description | -Source model - - (License - SPDX) |
+ Type | +Hardware | +Description | +Source model + (License) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Smartphone | -+ | Smartphone | +
![]() - Google Pixel + |
+
+ Security/Privacy+Google Pixel devices are the best Android + devices available on the market for + security and privacy. +They allow locking the bootloader with a + custom Android Verified Boot (AVB) key + in order to preserve security and privacy + features when installing a custom operating + system, such as + verified boot + which verifies that the OS has not been + corrupted or tampered with, and + rollback protection + which prevents an adversary from rolling + back the OS or firmware version to a + previous version with known security + vulnerabilities. +They also include a + hardware security module + (Titan M2, improving on the previous + generation + Titan M) + which is extremely resistant to both remote + and physical attacks due to being completely + isolated from the rest of the system, + including the operating system. Titan M2 + ensures that the device cannot be remotely + compromised by requiring the side buttons of + the device to be physically pressed for some + sensitive operations. Titan M2 also takes + the role of + Android StrongBox Keymaster, + a + hardware-backed Keystore + containing sensitive user keys which are + unavailable to the OS or apps running on it + without authorisation from Titan M2 itself. + Insider attack resistance + ensures that Titan M2 firmware can be + flashed only if the user PIN/password is + already known, making it impossible to + backdoor the device without already knowing + these secrets. +Google Pixel device kernels are compiled + with + forward-edge control-flow integrity + and + backward-edge control-flow integrity + to prevent code reuse attacks against the + kernel. MAC address randomisation is + implemented well, along with minimal probe requests and randomised initial sequence numbers. +Google releases + guaranteed monthly security updates, + ensuring Google Pixel devices are up-to-date + and quickly protected against security + vulnerabilities. +Pixel 6-series and 7-series devices are a + large improvement over the already very + secure and private previous generation Pixel + devices. They replace ARM-based Titan M with + RISC-V-based Titan M2, reducing trust by + removing ARM from the equation. Titan M2 is + more resiliant to attacks than Titan M, and + is + AVA_VAN.5 certified, + the highest level of vulnerability + assessment. Google's in-house Tensor + System-on-Chip includes Tensor Security + Core, further improving device security. +Pixel 8-series includes Armv9's + Memory Tagging Extension, + which dramatically increases device security + by eliminating up to 95% of all security + issues caused by memory-unsafety. +Support+Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 5, and Pixel 5a, are + supported for a + minimum of 3 years from launch. +Pixel 6-series, Pixel 7-series, Pixel + Fold, and Pixel Tablet, are supported for a + minimum of 5 years from launch. + Pixel 8-series is supported for a + minimum of 7 years from launch, + putting it on the same support level as + Apple; Google have even surpassed Apple in + this regard, as Apple does not commit to a + support timeframe for their devices. |
-
- Google Pixel devices are - the best Android devices - available on the market - for - security and privacy. -They allow locking the - bootloader with a - custom Android Verified Boot (AVB) key - in order to preserve security - and privacy features when - installing a custom operating - system, such as - verified boot - which verifies that the OS has - not been corrupted or tampered - with, and - rollback protection - which prevents an adversary from - rolling back the OS or firmware - version to a previous version - with known security vulnerabilities. -They also include a - hardware security module - (Titan M2, improving on the - previous generation - Titan M) - which is extremely resistant to - both remote and physical attacks - due to being completely isolated - from the rest of the system, - including the operating system. - Titan M2 ensures that the device - cannot be remotely compromised - by requiring the side buttons of - the device to be physically - pressed for some sensitive - operations. Titan M2 also takes - the role of - Android StrongBox Keymaster, - a - hardware-backed Keystore - containing sensitive user keys - which are unavailable to the OS - or apps running on it without - authorisation from Titan M2 itself. - Insider attack resistance - ensures that Titan M2 firmware - can be flashed only if the user - PIN/password is already known, - making it impossible to backdoor - the device without already - knowing these secrets. -Google Pixel device kernels - are compiled with - forward-edge control-flow integrity - and - backward-edge control-flow integrity - to prevent code reuse attacks - against the kernel. MAC address - randomisation is - implemented well, along with minimal probe requests and randomised initial sequence numbers. -Google releases - guaranteed monthly security updates, - ensuring Google Pixel devices - are up-to-date and quickly - protected against security - vulnerabilities. -Pixel 6-series and 7-series
- devices are a large improvement
- over the already very secure and
- private previous generation
- Pixel devices. They replace
- ARM-based Titan M with
- RISC-V-based Titan M2, reducing
- trust by removing ARM from the
- equation. Titan M2 is more
- resiliant to attacks than Titan
- M, and is
- AVA_VAN.5 certified,
- the highest level of
- vulnerability assessment.
- Google's in-house Tensor
- System-on-Chip includes Tensor
- Security Core, further improving
- device security. Pixel 6-series and 7-series
- devices are supported for a
- minimum of 5 years from launch,
- an increase from previous
- generations'
- minimum support lifecycles of 3 years. |
Type | -Software | -Description | -Source model - - (License - SPDX) |
+ Type | +Software | +Description | +Source model + (License) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operating system | -+ | Operating system | +
![]() - Gentoo Linux - - | + + |
Gentoo Linux - is a highly modular, - source-based, Linux-based - operating system which allows - vast customisation to tailor the - operating system to suit your - specific needs. There are many - advantages to such an operating - system, with the most notable - being the ability to optimise - the software for security, - privacy, performance, or power - usage; however, there are - effectively unlimited other use - cases, or a combination of - multiple use cases. -I have focused on security - hardening and privacy hardening, - placing performance below those - aspects, although my system is - still very performant. Some of + is a highly modular, source-based, Linux-based + operating system which allows vast customisation to + tailor the operating system to suit your specific + needs. There are many advantages to such an + operating system, with the most notable being the + ability to optimise the software for security, + privacy, performance, or power usage; however, there + are effectively unlimited other use cases, or a + combination of multiple use cases. +I have focused on security hardening and privacy + hardening, placing performance below those aspects, + although my system is still very performant. Some of the hardening I apply includes stack protection, signed integer overflow trapping, and GrapheneOS' hardened_malloc memory allocator. - You can find my Gentoo Linux - configurations in my + You can find my Gentoo Linux configurations in my configuration respository. |
-
- Open source - + |
+ Open-source (GPL-2.0-only) |
Web browser | -+ | Web browser | +
![]() - Chromium - - | + + |
Chromium - is a highly secure web browser - which is often ahead of other - web browsers in security - aspects. It has a dedicated - security team and a very - impressive + is a highly secure web browser which is often ahead + of other web browsers in security aspects. It has a + dedicated security team and a very impressive security brag sheet. - Chromium's security features - include a strong + Chromium's security features include a strong multi-layer sandbox, strong site isolation, Binding Integrity memory hardening, and control-flow integrity (CFI). |
-
- Open source - + |
+ Open-source (BSD-3-Clause) |
Type | -Software | -Description | -Source model - - (License - SPDX) |
+ Type | +Software | +Description | +Source model + (License) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operating system | -+ | Operating system | +
![]() GrapheneOS - - | + + |
GrapheneOS - is a security-hardened, - privacy-hardened, - secure-by-default, Android-based - operating system which - implements extensive, systemic - security and privacy hardening - to the Android Open Source - Project used as its base - codebase. Its hardening includes - closing gaps for apps to access - sensitive system information, a - secure app spawning feature - which avoids sharing address - space layout and other secrets - AOSP's default Zygote app - spawning model would share, + is a security-hardened, privacy-hardened, + secure-by-default, Android-based operating system + which implements extensive, systemic security and + privacy hardening to the Android Open Source Project + used as its base codebase. Its hardening includes + closing gaps for apps to access sensitive system + information, a secure app spawning feature which + avoids sharing address space layout and other + secrets AOSP's default Zygote app spawning model + would share, hardened kernel, hardened memory allocator (hardened_malloc) - to protect against common memory - corruption vulnerabilties, + to protect against common memory corruption + vulnerabilities, hardened Bionic standard C library, stricter SELinux policies, - and local and remote - hardware-backed attestation + and local and remote hardware-backed attestation (Auditor) - to ensure the OS has not been - corrupted or tampered with. + to ensure the OS has not been corrupted or tampered + with.GrapheneOS only supports high security and well-supported devices - which receive full support from - their manufacturers, including - firmware updates, long support - lifecycles, secure hardware, and - overall high security + which receive full support from their manufacturers, + including firmware updates, long support lifecycles, + secure hardware, and overall high security practices. -For an extensive list of - features GrapheneOS provides, - visit its + For an extensive list of features GrapheneOS + provides, visit its official features list - which provides extensive - documentation. + which provides extensive documentation. |
-
- Open source - + |
+ Open-source (MIT) |
Web browser | -+ | Web browser | +
![]() - Vanadium - - |
- Vanadium is a - security-hardened, - privacy-hardened Chromium-based - web browser which utilises - GrapheneOS' operating system - hardening to implement stronger - defenses to the already very - secure Chromium web browser. Its - hardening alongside Chromium's - base security features includes + + |
+ Vanadium is a security-hardened, privacy-hardened + Chromium-based web browser which utilises + GrapheneOS' operating system hardening to implement + stronger defenses to the already very secure + Chromium web browser. Its hardening alongside + Chromium's base security features includes disabling JavaScript just-in-time (JIT) compilation by default, stubbing out the battery status API to prevent abuse of it, and always-on Incognito mode as an option. -Vanadium's source code, - including its Chromium patchset, - can be found in its + Vanadium's source code, including its Chromium + patch-set, can be found in its official repository. |
-
- Open source - + |
+ Open-source (GPL-2.0-only) |
Messenger | -+ | Messenger | +
![]() - Molly - - | + + |
Molly - is a security-hardened, - privacy-hardened + is a security-hardened, privacy-hardened Signal - client which hardens Signal by - using a variety of + client which hardens Signal by using a variety of unique features, allowing locking the database when not in use, and utilising Android StrongBox - to protect user keys - using the device's hardware + to protect user keys using the device's hardware security module. Molly is available in 2 flavours:
|
-
- Open source - + |
+ Open-source (GPL-3.0-only) |
Messenger | -+ |
![]() - Conversations - - | + + |
Conversations is a well-designed Android XMPP - client which serves as the de - facto XMPP reference client and - has great usability. + client which serves as the de facto XMPP reference + client and has great usability. |
-
- Open source - + |
+ Open-source (GPL-3.0-only) |