Although it is up to the Android team to answer this I believe these questions do not have completely straightforward answers which is also valid for other phones with iPhone as the only exception.
How come? Android is an operating system. Most operating allow certain features to be implemented or not. Disk encryption using trusted hardware is featured in some high-end Nokia S60 phones but that doesn't necessarily mean that disk encryption is an integral part of the OS itself. What is clear is that Android has a very nice architecture that should allow new features to be added when requested. Regarding cryptographic keys my opinion about it is that the <keygen> scheme that Google uses (but have not implemented in G1...) is rather useless because it does not support trusted hardware in a reasonable way. Unfortunately that is not really Android but WebKit that is the true culprit and no progress in this area has been reported AFAICT. Anders ----- Original Message ----- From: "mjlissner" <[email protected]> To: "Android Security Discussions" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 20:25 Subject: [android-security-discuss] Re: Basic Device Security questions Brick, did you ever get a response on any of these questions? On Apr 20, 5:22 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > I have just been asked by a colleague to answer some security > questions on Android and I wonder if I can get some quick help? > > Here they are, apologies if these are too basic and covered > elsewhere...I haven't had a thorough look but couldn't see answers... > > 1. Does Android support full device encryption and its complementary > function full disk erasure? If not, do people feel this is feasible > on a bespoke build? Would it have too great a performance impact on > the device? > > 2. Can crypto keys be stored securely on the device (at rest) in a > secure store? Can the keys to the store be introduced from an external > interface during boot time? Smartcard or MicroSD, etc > > 3. When the OS is running can the keys be protected or are they left > clear in working memory? > > 4. If I wish to work via a browser to minimise data held on the > device, can the working memory of the browser be securely encrypted > (and again are the keys capable of being secured)? > > 5. Can I intercept the boot sequence so that during the hard reset > process I may intercept the device and perform a secure erasure before > loading the OS at its default state? > > 6. I am making an assumption that the UI is completely > configurable...I can remove any applications that may be used to load > or remove threats to the device? > > I am sure that if I want to lookup encryption algorithms available > that these are all defined somewhere on this site... > > I know that these are quite simple questions but understanding a > little of these will allow me to discuss the merits of Android devices > over the iPhone, Win Mobile, etc. > > Kind Regards, > Brick
