Obama gets upgraded from a blackberry to a........."Smartphone". It still isn't good.

[PlayStation 2]

Who the fuck is gonna listen to him, the NSA?

[Syntaxvgm]

5 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Who the fuck is gonna listen to him, the NSA?

as bush would say, A 'kada 

[PlayStation 2]

3 minutes ago, Syntaxvgm said:

as bush would say, A 'kada 

lol

[TopDollar]

52 minutes ago, SansVarnic said:

The US Government has switched from blackberry to Android. Buuuut it is not the Android OS you think it is. It is a sorta re-written version with integrated secure coding of sorts (and yes I know I am not using the correct terminology here) and other things added into it that is only used in government and military applications.

 

*edit

Forgot to add;

Most calls and data that the phones use are routed through the Military's Telnet service also enhancing its security.

The government uses iPhones a lot as well. Plenty of camera-less "dumb" phones floating around too.

[SansVarnic]

11 minutes ago, TopDollar said:

The government uses iPhones a lot as well. Plenty of camera-less "dumb" phones floating around too.

That is true, there is still a number of Blackberry's floating around as well but they are in the process of attempting convert the majority over. What I know is mostly from the military side of things so my knowledge is somewhat limited there. I do know that as long as the 'official' is willing to allow certain software/app to be installed the official should be able to utilize the phone they already have albeit at a now limited function of course. 

[TopDollar]

2 minutes ago, SansVarnic said:

That is true, there is still a number of Blackberry's floating around as well but they are in the process of attempting convert the majority over. What I know is mostly from the military side of things so my knowledge is somewhat limited there. I do know that as long as the 'official' is willing to allow certain software/app to be installed the official should be able to utilize the phone they already have albeit at a now limited function of course. 

Yeah true. The Android vs. iPhone choice is probably a preference that varies by Command more than anything else. That and intranet/network compatibility.

[Entropy]

His old phone could only email... And only email people that worked at the White House. 

 

I know a guy. 

[Trixanity]

9 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Most of Android's security issues boils down to two problems: there's no easy way to push updates because everyone's at the mercy of their carrier and manufacturer (except for Google phones, to a point) and the fact that apps require your permissions to run and few people actually stop and think about what permissions are being asked. They must have this app but it's looking into your contacts when it doesn't need to.

 

Things like StageFright are the exception, not the norm. It wouldn't surprise me if iOS or Windows Phone has a similar bug that nobody's found yet. Plus StageFright used an exploit that shouldn't have been a thing in the first place (why would you want automatic media downloads on a metered network?... oh wait, this was a time when we had "unlimited data" plans)

 

So a custom ROM would make sense using Android as a basis.

Marshmallow changes the app permission model significantly, so that should no longer be a problem. Although if this phone is running a custom secure Android version, it's probably an older version.

[M4st4M1nd]

He's supposed to be the president. Why doesn't he make his own damn mind up.

[VerticalDiscussions]

11 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

-snip-

Terribly insecure, for a president, not the masses

[kameshss]

Already saw this on Jimmy Fallon.

[AlTech]

26 minutes ago, M4st4M1nd said:

He's supposed to be the president. Why doesn't he make his own damn mind up.

Cos they don't want him to leak information or have him talk to the press without his chief of staff agreeing.

[Bouzoo]

11 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

It could be just to connect to secure networks via  VPN to check emails or use a secure VoIP line. Anything other than that is terribly insecure.

And it probably is exactly that. Same how carriers have VPN and you can't call anyone outside of it. It's not unheard of. Actually it's pretty common. 

[M4st4M1nd]

2 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Cos they don't want him to leak information or have him talk to the press without his chief of staff agreeing.

But he's the president. Surely its pretty much his say so anyway.

[AlTech]

5 minutes ago, M4st4M1nd said:

But he's the president. Surely its pretty much his say so anyway.

I'm kidding.... It's done so nobody can intercept the president's communication.

[Mira Yurizaki]

5 hours ago, Trixanity said:

Marshmallow changes the app permission model significantly, so that should no longer be a problem. Although if this phone is running a custom secure Android version, it's probably an older version.

The only difference is you give permissions at the time the app requests the thing in question rather than everything up front when you download it off the store, but it still doesn't solve the problem that people don't read what they're agreeing to or think about it.

[Trixanity]

48 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The only difference is you give permissions at the time the app requests the thing in question rather than everything up front when you download it off the store, but it still doesn't solve the problem that people don't read what they're agreeing to or think about it.

You can't solve human errors. You never can.

But I do think the Marshmallow model gives the user the ability to download an app without just doing a "Agree to all" as you rush to try out this new app and you are presented with each permission individually allowing you to think "does this flashlight app really need to see my contacts and send text messages?".

[Squirrel724]

17 hours ago, Syntaxvgm said:

no calls........what DOES it do? 

Secure government emails. That's probably about it.

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 hour ago, Trixanity said:

You can't solve human errors. You never can.

But I do think the Marshmallow model gives the user the ability to download an app without just doing a "Agree to all" as you rush to try out this new app and you are presented with each permission individually allowing you to think "does this flashlight app really need to see my contacts and send text messages?".

If anything, Marshmallow may make the  problem worse because people find anything that requires their permission annoying, even if they should really stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

 

Security and convenience is a huge UX problem.

[Trixanity]

4 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

If anything, Marshmallow may make the  problem worse because people find anything that requires their permission annoying, even if they should really stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

 

Security and convenience is a huge UX problem.

Of course, it's annoying. It's like any other agreement or prompt. All those license agreements you have to accept are annoying. All the admin prompts you need to accept to install software. And how you need to be on your toes to avoid it installing third-party crapware if you forget to uncheck a box.

 

So many nuisances but it's a problem you can't solve. It's either security OR convenience. It's virtually impossible to have both. For example, finger print scanner: very convenient, not so secure. It's the nature of the beast.

[PCgamer324]

17 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

 

Most calls and data that the phones use are routed through the Military's Telnet service also enhancing its security.

 

"Military's Telnet service..."

 

"...enhancing its security"

 

>telnet

 

>security

 

 

 

[Fetzie]

3 hours ago, PCgamer324 said:

"Military's Telnet service..."

 

"...enhancing its security"

 

>telnet

 

>security

 

 

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Presumably this is an abbreviation for "telecommunications network", because actual "telnet" is a fucking massive security hole (due to being completely unencrypted).

[SansVarnic]

9 hours ago, M4st4M1nd said:

But he's the president. Surely its pretty much his say so anyway.

Nope the president is bound by laws, he does not the power that you suggest.

All powers of the president are described here: Article II Section II

[The_Denks]

23 hours ago, Syntaxvgm said:

no calls........what DOES it do? 

Sounds just like an IPhone. Cos they all broken lol #nokialyfe

[SansVarnic]

13 hours ago, Trixanity said:

Marshmallow changes the app permission model significantly, so that should no longer be a problem. Although if this phone is running a custom secure Android version, it's probably an older version.

8 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The only difference is you give permissions at the time the app requests the thing in question rather than everything up front when you download it off the store, but it still doesn't solve the problem that people don't read what they're agreeing to or think about it.

7 hours ago, Trixanity said:

You can't solve human errors. You never can.

But I do think the Marshmallow model gives the user the ability to download an app without just doing a "Agree to all" as you rush to try out this new app and you are presented with each permission individually allowing you to think "does this flashlight app really need to see my contacts and send text messages?".

6 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

If anything, Marshmallow may make the  problem worse because people find anything that requires their permission annoying, even if they should really stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

 

Security and convenience is a huge UX problem.

5 hours ago, Trixanity said:

Of course, it's annoying. It's like any other agreement or prompt. All those license agreements you have to accept are annoying. All the admin prompts you need to accept to install software. And how you need to be on your toes to avoid it installing third-party crapware if you forget to uncheck a box.

 

So many nuisances but it's a problem you can't solve. It's either security OR convenience. It's virtually impossible to have both. For example, finger print scanner: very convenient, not so secure. It's the nature of the beast.

The Marshmallow update would have no bearing here since military or Government software does not accept upgrades the same way that civilian services does.

The Android version was originally based of the Android before Google bought it up and has not been updated by Google Android since. The entity that maintains Government and Military communications and computer systems manages all software updates on it own. One thing I can say is that they do take on certain aspects of upgrades from software makers such as Microsoft, Google's Android etc... and implements them in a timely fashion.

 

5 hours ago, PCgamer324 said:

"Military's Telnet service..."

 

"...enhancing its security"

 

>telnet

 

>security

<snip>

 

1 hour ago, Fetzie said:

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Presumably this is an abbreviation for "telecommunications network", because actual "telnet" is a fucking massive security hole (due to being completely unencrypted).

Yes I meant telecommunications network.  

Yes it is referred to as TelNet (there is another name but I cant say) because it s the US Army and everything we use is in jargon/shorthand/whatever you wanna call it. It weird to use as well, especially when wanting to call home, there are extra steps to take. I really wanna describe it as it is like a facepalm to techies to see what take place to use it. There is a simpler way to make it work but when you add automation security issue tend to crop up more easily.