Ride the Lightning

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

Version 2 of the Secure Blackphone Debuts

October 8, 2015

Last week, Computer Weekly reported that the Swiss security firm Silent Circle had released the Blackphone 2 – priced at £525. The phone has its own Android-based operating system (Silent OS) which lets users select what each app, service and site will know about them through the phone's security center. The phone provides full device encryption by default. Users can create separate secure environments for business data, personal information and social applications.

Blackphone 2 is the first component of Silent Circle’s enterprise privacy platform (EPP) announced at Mobile World Congress earlier in 2015. The EPP is a cloud-based combination of software, services and devices that connect to existing Internet connections to enable privacy for the mobile enterprise.

For the enterprise market, the Blackphone 2 comes with a remote wipe setting should the phone be lost or stolen. It is also ready for enterprise deployment, with support for Google’s Android For Work program and integration with Google’s suite of applications.

According to Silent Circle, Blackphone 2 is certified with existing mobile device management (MDM) systems, including MobileIron, Citrix, Good and SOTI.

To appeal to users, the Blackphone 2 has an Octa-core Qualcomm processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage plus a removable Micro SD card slot, a 5.5-inch Gorilla Glass display and a 13-megapixel camera.

The smartphone comes pre-loaded with Silent Circle’s private communication app Silent Phone, which offers encrypted, secure voice calls, conference calling, video conferencing and secure text and file transfers.

Some have called this phone overkill, but I'm betting it will find a ready market with those who are tired of having their data compromised – and have reasons to keep it private.

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