Silent Circle and Geeksphone unveiled a new Android-based smartphone, the BlackPhone, which protects credentials by encrypting users' private data. It was unveiled at MWC in Barcelona, Monday.
In the light of recent events, smartphone and internet users jump at any chance they get to protect their private information from falling into the hands of hackers, or even the government. Silent Circle and Geeksphone announced last month that both companies are jointly developing a smartphone that will shield users against data extracting agencies. The new smartphone called the BlackPhone was announced at the biggest mobile event, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Monday.
The BlackPhone is based on the widely popular Android mobile OS, but does not leave users vulnerable to hackers or any other data snooping agencies. The privacy-oriented smartphone is designed to make secure phone calls, send/receive data and even protect the data stored on the device. Though, the device is touted to offer extreme security, the BlackPhone is not "NSA-Proof" as reported by the media during its initial release, last month, says Toby Weir-Jones, chief product officer for Blackphone, Huffington Post reports.
While security experts commend the efforts put in the BlackPhone, some note that the phone cannot promise ultimate security. "If someone spends enough time and money to attack that code, they will be able to find a way around it," says Stu Sjouwerman, founder and CEO of Florida-based computer security consultancy KnowBe4.com according to the report. "So, if the NSA thinks, 'Hmmm, we don't like this,' and they throw a couple of supercomputers at it, they will find zero-day bugs even in that code, and they will be able to circumvent it."
The smartphone simply uses advanced techniques to make it difficult for hackers to exploit the data, but it is not impossible to break in. The most notable feature of the phone is the capability of encrypting voice and text using Silent Circle's smartphone app. The app must be available on both phones for two users to communicate discreetly.
Besides the notable security, the smartphone looks and works just like any other Android phone. Though it uses Google's mobile OS as a base platform to improve security of the device, BlackPhone runs a customized layer on top called the PrivatOS. The smartphone features a 4.7-inch HD IPS display, 8-megapixel camera with flash and 16GB internal storage. It is powered by 2GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM along with support for both 3G and 4G LTE.
The BlackPhone is available for pre-order from the company's official website for a retail price of $629.
