From e95ca0b45993ca87105c88a37e6eccb4ed459365 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: inference Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2023 15:57:08 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Properly indent code. --- blog/foss_is_working_against_itself.html | 370 +++++++++++------------ 1 file changed, 185 insertions(+), 185 deletions(-) diff --git a/blog/foss_is_working_against_itself.html b/blog/foss_is_working_against_itself.html index d9e6248..144a7be 100644 --- a/blog/foss_is_working_against_itself.html +++ b/blog/foss_is_working_against_itself.html @@ -5,192 +5,192 @@ - + - - Inferencium - Blog - FOSS is Working Against Itself - - - - - - -

Blog - #0

-
-
-
-

FOSS is Working Against Itself

-
-

Posted: 2022-01-27 (UTC+00:00)

-

Updated: 2022-11-09 (UTC+00:00)

-
-
- -

Table of Contents

- -
-
-

Introduction

-

The world has become a dangerous, privacy invading, human rights stripping, totalitarian place; - in order to combat this, people are joining a growing, and dangerous, trend, which I will refer to - in this post as the "Free and Open Source (FOSS) movement". With that stated, I will now debunk the - misinformation being spread inside of this extremely flawed movement.

-
-

The - FOSS movement is an attempt to regain - privacy and - control over our devices and data, but the entire concept of FOSS-only, at the current time, is - severely, and dangerously, flawed. What the FOSS community does not seem to understand is the fact - that most FOSS software cares not about - security. - "Security"; keep that word in mind as you progress through this article. What is security? Security - is being safe and secure from adversaries and unwanted consequences; security protects our rights - and allows us to protect ourselves. Without security, we have no protection, and without protection, - we have a lack of certainty of everything else, including privacy and control, which is what the - FOSS movement is seeking.

-
-

FOSS projects rarely take security into account; they simply look at the surface level, rather - than the actual - root cause of the issues they are attempting to fight against. In this case, the focus is on - privacy and control. Without security mechanisms to protect the privacy features and the ability to - control your devices and data, it can be stripped away as if it never existed in the first place, - which, inevitably, leads us back to the beginning, and the cycle repeats. With this - ideology, privacy and control will *never* be achieved. There is no foundation to build privacy - or control upon. It is impossible to build a solid, freedom respecting platform on this model.

-
-
-

Examples

-

Smartphones

-

A FOSS phone, especially so-called - "Linux phones" are completely - detrimental to privacy and control, because they do not have the security necessary to enforce that - privacy. - Unlocked bootloaders prevent the device from - verifying the integrity of the boot chain, including the OS, meaning any adversary, whether a - stranger who happens to pick up the device, or a big tech or government entity, can simply inject - malicious code into your software and you wouldn't have any idea it was there. If that's not enough - of a backdoor for you to reconsider your position, how about the trivial - evil maid and data extraction attacks which could be executed on your device, without coercion? - With Android phones, this is bad enough to completely break the privacy and control the FOSS - movement seeks, but "Linux phones" take it a step further by implementing barely any security, if - any at all. - Privilege escalation is trivial to achieve on any Linux system, which is the reason Linux - hardening strategies often include restricting access to the root account; if you - root your Android phone, or use a "Linux phone", you've already destroyed the security model, - and thus privacy and control model you were attempting to achieve. Not only are these side effects - of FOSS, so is the absolutely illogical restriction of not being able to, or making it unnecessarily - difficult to, install and update critical components of the system, such as proprietary - firmware, which just so happens to be almost all of them. "Linux phones" are not as free as - they proclaim to be.

-
-

You may ask "What's so bad about using - LineageOS?", to which I answer with "What's not bad about it?".
-
-

-
-

LineageOS is not the only Android OS (commonly, and incorrectly, referred to as a "ROM") with such - issues, but it is one of the worst. The only things such insecure OSes can provide you are - customisation abilities, and a backdoor to your data. They are best suited as a development OS, not - a production OS.

-
-
-

Solution

-

What can you do about this? The answer is simple; however, it does require you to use logic, - fact, and evidence, not emotion, which is a difficult pill for most people to swallow. Use your - adversaries' weapons against them. The only way to effectively combat the privacy invasion and lack - of control of our devices and data is to become a - renegade and not take sides. Yes, that means not taking sides with the closed source, - proprietary, big tech and government entities, but it also means not taking sides with any - FOSS entities. The only way to win this war is to take *whatever* hardware and software you can, and - use it tactically.

-
-

The only solution for phone security, privacy, and control, is to use a Google Pixel (currently, - Pixel 4a-series or newer) running - GrapheneOS. Google Pixel phones allow you complete bootloader freedom, including the - ability to lock the bootloader after flashing a custom OS - (GrapheneOS includes a custom OS signing key to allow locking the bootloader and enabling verified - boot to prevent - malware persistence, evil maid attacks, and boot chain - corruption), - long device support lifecycles (minimum 3 years for Pixel 4a-series to Pixel 5a, minimum 5 - years for Pixel 6-series and newer), and - guaranteed monthly security updates for the entire support timeframe of the devices.

-
-
-

Conclusion

-

Use what you can, and do what you can. By neglecting security, you are, even if unintentionally, - neglecting exactly what you are trying to gain; privacy and control.

-
-
- + + Inferencium - Blog - FOSS is Working Against Itself + + + + + + +

Blog - #0

+
+
+
+

FOSS is Working Against Itself

+
+

Posted: 2022-01-27 (UTC+00:00)

+

Updated: 2022-11-09 (UTC+00:00)

+
+
+ +

Table of Contents

+ +
+
+

Introduction

+

The world has become a dangerous, privacy invading, human rights stripping, totalitarian place; + in order to combat this, people are joining a growing, and dangerous, trend, which I will refer to + in this post as the "Free and Open Source (FOSS) movement". With that stated, I will now debunk the + misinformation being spread inside of this extremely flawed movement.

+
+

The + FOSS movement is an attempt to regain + privacy and + control over our devices and data, but the entire concept of FOSS-only, at the current time, is + severely, and dangerously, flawed. What the FOSS community does not seem to understand is the fact + that most FOSS software cares not about + security. + "Security"; keep that word in mind as you progress through this article. What is security? Security + is being safe and secure from adversaries and unwanted consequences; security protects our rights + and allows us to protect ourselves. Without security, we have no protection, and without protection, + we have a lack of certainty of everything else, including privacy and control, which is what the + FOSS movement is seeking.

+
+

FOSS projects rarely take security into account; they simply look at the surface level, rather + than the actual + root cause of the issues they are attempting to fight against. In this case, the focus is on + privacy and control. Without security mechanisms to protect the privacy features and the ability to + control your devices and data, it can be stripped away as if it never existed in the first place, + which, inevitably, leads us back to the beginning, and the cycle repeats. With this + ideology, privacy and control will *never* be achieved. There is no foundation to build privacy + or control upon. It is impossible to build a solid, freedom respecting platform on this model.

+
+
+

Examples

+

Smartphones

+

A FOSS phone, especially so-called + "Linux phones" are completely + detrimental to privacy and control, because they do not have the security necessary to enforce that + privacy. + Unlocked bootloaders prevent the device from + verifying the integrity of the boot chain, including the OS, meaning any adversary, whether a + stranger who happens to pick up the device, or a big tech or government entity, can simply inject + malicious code into your software and you wouldn't have any idea it was there. If that's not enough + of a backdoor for you to reconsider your position, how about the trivial + evil maid and data extraction attacks which could be executed on your device, without coercion? + With Android phones, this is bad enough to completely break the privacy and control the FOSS + movement seeks, but "Linux phones" take it a step further by implementing barely any security, if + any at all. + Privilege escalation is trivial to achieve on any Linux system, which is the reason Linux + hardening strategies often include restricting access to the root account; if you + root your Android phone, or use a "Linux phone", you've already destroyed the security model, + and thus privacy and control model you were attempting to achieve. Not only are these side effects + of FOSS, so is the absolutely illogical restriction of not being able to, or making it unnecessarily + difficult to, install and update critical components of the system, such as proprietary + firmware, which just so happens to be almost all of them. "Linux phones" are not as free as + they proclaim to be.

+
+

You may ask "What's so bad about using + LineageOS?", to which I answer with "What's not bad about it?".
+
+

+
+

LineageOS is not the only Android OS (commonly, and incorrectly, referred to as a "ROM") with such + issues, but it is one of the worst. The only things such insecure OSes can provide you are + customisation abilities, and a backdoor to your data. They are best suited as a development OS, not + a production OS.

+
+
+

Solution

+

What can you do about this? The answer is simple; however, it does require you to use logic, + fact, and evidence, not emotion, which is a difficult pill for most people to swallow. Use your + adversaries' weapons against them. The only way to effectively combat the privacy invasion and lack + of control of our devices and data is to become a + renegade and not take sides. Yes, that means not taking sides with the closed source, + proprietary, big tech and government entities, but it also means not taking sides with any + FOSS entities. The only way to win this war is to take *whatever* hardware and software you can, and + use it tactically.

+
+

The only solution for phone security, privacy, and control, is to use a Google Pixel (currently, + Pixel 4a-series or newer) running + GrapheneOS. Google Pixel phones allow you complete bootloader freedom, including the + ability to lock the bootloader after flashing a custom OS + (GrapheneOS includes a custom OS signing key to allow locking the bootloader and enabling verified + boot to prevent + malware persistence, evil maid attacks, and boot chain + corruption), + long device support lifecycles (minimum 3 years for Pixel 4a-series to Pixel 5a, minimum 5 + years for Pixel 6-series and newer), and + guaranteed monthly security updates for the entire support timeframe of the devices.

+
+
+

Conclusion

+

Use what you can, and do what you can. By neglecting security, you are, even if unintentionally, + neglecting exactly what you are trying to gain; privacy and control.

+
+
+