On Friday, 8 December 2023 15:40:45 CET H.  Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
> Indeed an interesting approach. But I don't get the benefits. If it is about
> secure (i.e. end-to-end encrypted) voice and text communication, this can
> equally securely be done by an open source application running on the app
> module of two identical devices (which could even be off the shelf). It
> would also follow the idea to use an unsecure communication
> channel.

I think the essence of the motivation for this approach is that the smartphone 
environment is complicated, opaque and inscrutable (Android or Linux running 
on an SoC with lots of unaudited functionality) where applications could be 
doing all sorts of bad things. Meanwhile, the core telephony environment is 
simpler, transparent and separated and protected from the untrustworthy 
smartphone environment.

Thus, the user can treat the smartphone environment like a sandbox, falling 
back to the core environment where they need to be sure that nothing is 
interfering with their communications. It is, I suppose, a bit like the way 
that Ctrl-Alt-Delete on Windows NT is meant to bring the system to a known 
state, ensuring that the user is typing their credentials into a dialogue that 
really is operated by the system and not some rogue program.

I don't know how mainstream smartphone architectures address various related 
needs to what this project is addressing. For example, things like emergency 
calls and alerts should be handled at a lower level than some kind of "app", 
and yet the introduction of emergency alert systems that do not work with many 
existing smartphones (the one in Norway and other countries, for instance) 
suggests that regulatory oversight of such things has been softened.

> The only thing he has secured a little more is the display, touch and
> microphone/speaker. But at the moment he wants to allow a bluetooth headset
> there is an intrusion vector.

I imagine that all such add-ons might be untrusted in this scheme.

> Anyways thanks for making us known to our community.

No problem! It provides some inspiration and guidance, I suppose.

Paul


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