Ride the Lightning

Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

DOD Using "NSA-Proof" Smartphones

April 7, 2015

The NSA wants back doors everywhere but apparently the DOD does not.

As Nextgov has reported, the Defense Department has rolled out NSA-proof smartphones developed by the anti-government-surveillance firm Silent Circle. As part of limited trials, U.S. military personnel are using the "blackphone" developed by Silent Circle, which was founded by former Navy Seal Mike Janke and Phil Zimmermann, the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP).

Silent Circle was a California firm, but moved its operations to Switzerland, a move thought to deter U.S. law enforcement from seeking access to user records.

The Pentagon has been a longtime Silent Circle customer and has begun buying the Android-based blackphone which was released in 2014.

The blackphone’s operating system and software options enable customers to log in to the same phone under multiple personas, each with separate security restrictions. Specifically, a feature called “Spaces” insulates data activity in one profile from the actions happening in other compartments.

This means Facebook’s WhatsApp chat tool and family photos might be accessible on your personal space, while encrypted communications and classified maps might be available on your work space. To move from one user profile to another, you would swipe the phone and type in a pin code.

DOD, not Silent Circle, configures the mobile email, private network, Web browser and other apps. The data flows through military servers and Silent Circle does not have access to the government’s encryption keys for unlocking secret messages.

Another one of the "zero knowledge" companies. I love it.

Silent Circle sells services and products to many Fortune 500 companies concerned about intellectual property theft, as well as privacy-conscious citizens, but counts about 14 governments among its customer base, as well as at least one major oil company.

Another smartphone designed by veteran defense supplier Boeing, "The Black," is also a contender for the military’s business. The Black looks and functions like a generic Android smartphone, but doubles as a top secret information system. The self-destructing phone can scan itself for signs of tampering and render itself inoperable if it detects a problem.

The Black is NSA-approved to protect classified data and meets DOD's “National Information Assurance Partnership” standards, Boeing spokesman Andy Lee said.

You know what that tells me? I don't want the "Boeing Black." I want Silent Circle's blackphone.

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