Security and file-content-privacy

Hi,

just read several topics concerning security and privacy that lead me to a couple of questions:

  • does the latest /e/-version already include some kind of firewall?

  • does the latest /e/-version already include some security mechanisms like SELinux, AppArmor or Systrace (app-restriction)? If yes: are they already configured to optimize security and privacy “out-of-the-box”? Or does the user need to adjust anything (besides the usual set-up-GUI)?

  • is the file system completely encrypted? (so that an intruder can only steal encrypted files)

  • would the following process to locally read/edit files in a private way work on an /e/phone:
    t.ex. the user has a confidential PDF, DOC or XLS on a USB-Stick and wants to open it in a safe way:

  1. shut down all kinds of webData/Wifi/Bluetooth/LTE-connections using /e/-setup
  2. plug-in the USB-stick (mount)
  3. open the file, view/edit it, later close it
  4. remove the USB-stick (unmount)
  5. enable again the usual webData/Wifi/Bluetooth/LTE-connections using /e/-setup
    If I did this on a “usual” Phone or PC with mainstream-OS, I would assume that the OS (or the document-view/edit-app) secretly made a hidden copy of that file, e.g. in a temp-directory, and might send at least its metadata home at the next opportunity).
    However, I’m not so much concerned about the usual logging-system that somewhere stores the mere fact that the user viewed or edited a file with a certain name/type/time/date. The point is, if there still exists a copy of the file’s content on the /e/phone after removing the USB-stick.
  • is pen-testing already part of the development/release-process?

Many thanks for any response in advance!

Best regards & happy 2022
mc21

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

It’s worth reading this page from /e/'s documentation (if you haven’t already). /e/'s primary focus is on personal privacy , rather tha hardened security:

helping you keep your data safe from Google

https://doc.e.foundation/support-topics/how-does-e-os-compare.html

Thanks for the link, Pete!

I saw this one already, and it have been statements like “If you are looking for an OS with hardened security, use Graphene” or “the ideal world is a mix of security and privacy” that made me curious and motivated me to start looking a bit deeper into /e/'s security.

Probably, my questions above were too detailed, let’s put it in more general words:
Does /e/ provide the same level of security as the Android stock ROM?
Or have some features or configurations been removed/added/changed?

I saw, that /e/ published a list of working banking-apps, see:

[LIST] Banking Apps that work on /e/OS
https://community.e.foundation/t/list-banking-apps-that-work-on-e-os/33091

and believe this is one more reason to have a look on security.

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