Category: Mobile Phone

Mobile phone security

Run a SSH server in Android

SSH Server is a complete Secure Shell daemon, Secure FTP, Secure Copy and Telnet server Android app that doesn’t need rooting the device. After installing the app you will be able to enter an SSH server hostname and port, with optional public key encryption authentication instead of password and allowing X11 forwarding, a way to grant graphical information to pass through firewalls, giving you a graphical interface if the Unix server you are connecting to supports it.

Logging is very detailed, in verbose mode it includes filters and email logs, to save space it can be set to only record errors leaving connection logs out, the server is accessible from the Internet and you can whitelist IP addresses blocking everyone else.

Android SSH server app

The free version of SSH Server only allows for one server, it should be enough for most people, to connect to the server just use SSH command line from shell like you would do in Linux, in the form of:

ssh -v -l USERNAME ADDRESS -p PORT

With -v being for verbose -l for login and -p indicating the port, the server address should be the IP, the app supports dynamic DNS setting a permanent custom hostname that you can access, remaining always the same even if your device IP changes, companies like DynDNS can provide this service. There are other Android apps like Dropbear providing SSH capabilities to your phone but it requires root, and there is the connectbot app too but this SSH Server from Icecoldapps is the most complete, it comes with SFTP combined with SSH.

Visit SSH server in Google Play

10 February, 2013
Mobile phone password manager WISeID

WISeID is a password manager available for Android, iPhone/iPad, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry, it has been designed to locally encrypt data in your phone using AES256, a very secure uncrackable algorithm that is a US government standard. You will be asked to enter a master password after installing the app, to unlock the database you can use a combination of face recognition or dot pattern together with the passphrase.

Inside the app everything can be categorized into passwords, bank accounts, social network logins, credit cards, email accounts and others, data can be searched and optionally synced across devices using a Dropbox account.

WiseID smartphone password manager

After storing the username and password for a website inside WISeID you can launch the URL to automatically log in, saving you time. The encrypted data is kept in the mobile device at all times, unlike Lastpass, there is no central server where accreditations are communicated. WISeID is open to the choice of registering with them and get a free X.509 digital certificate called WISeKey’s Personal ID or eID that can be used to encrypt and digitally sign email messages.

There is no way to recover your data if you lose your master password, no backdoor built in. At the moment of writing WISeID is free, if this changes you might want to look into KeePass mobile password manager instead.

Visit WiseID homepage

6 January, 2013
iPhone & iPad steganography app Spy Pix

Spy Pix is an steganographic tool to hide images inside others, the advantage over encryption is that while encrypted data indicates something of value being protected, by hiding data in plain sight an attacker would have to know first what he is looking for. This tool can be used to send secret messages to your friends, they will need to have SpyPix installed to reveal the hidden message.

The images are saved as .png (Portable Network Graphics), they could be uploaded to flickr or photobucket and your contact download it from anywhere in the world to decode it, the hidden image can contain a written message with instructions. This system avoids compromising your contacts, if your iPhone is seized by hostile authorities they could work out who you have been emailing with and follow the trail, uploading the image to a public website with thousands of visitors needs some guess work to find out who the receiver is.

iPhone steganography app SpyPix

Supporting for the built-in camera Spy Pix can use photographs you take as a carrier to hide other images, use a photo from your album or copy an image from another app, the photos can be easily blended using a slider that allows you to control end image quality, you can send them by email using a single button, the options aren’t amazing but they do everything you need and keeping it simple makes operating this app easy.

Spy Pix could be greatly improved if encryption was used and a password was asked to decipher the hidden image/message.

Note: This app is not free, priced at $1.

Visit Spy Pix homepage

22 August, 2012
Create disposable phone numbers with Burner iPhone app

Burner is an iPhone app allowing people to create as many disposable phone numbers as needed, the messages can be set to expire in a day, week or months and used to send and receive SMS, inbound calls or as voice mail, the caller ID will also be modified during outgoing calls and it can be replied to the disposable number. This app could be of use to post a throw away phone number to Craiglist or Facebook and wipe it if you get harassed or once the item has been sold.

Calls and messages go through your mobile network carrier but changing the sender ID so that it appears it came from your Burner disposable phone number, the receiver will be totally unaware and will not get any kind of warning about the sender using a disposable number. Burner interface allows you to organize your various disposable phone numbers creating new ones or erasing them. When a number is erased it will be gone for ever, future callers will hear an out-of-service message, the number could be recirculated again after a two week quarantine period.

Burner disposable phone number

Burner will keep logs associating your original phone number with the disposable one and disclosure it to US law enforcement agencies with a valid warrant, they do not say how long for logs are kept, terms and conditions also bar users from using Burner for “objectionable” activities, which could be anything they want.

Note: This is not a free app, only available in the US and Canada with future United Kingdom coverage planned.

Visit Burner app homepage

18 August, 2012
Serval Project, a self-powered mobile phone network

Serval Project is an autonomous mobile network for non coverage areas, it requires no mobile phone company to operate, using Wifi enabled mobile phones transmit data in P2P mode, ideal for deployment in disaster areas where mobile phone towers have been destroyed and remote places where mobile phone signal can not reach.

The software called Distributed Numbering Architecture (‘DNA’) turns an Android phone into an independent network router broadcasting and managing calls in mesh P2P mode. To enjoy adhoc wireless networking you will have to root your phone invalidating its warranty, if you choose not to root your mobile phone you can still use it for free P2P calls with people connected to the same Access Point but you won’t be able to transmit data like SMS messages, called MeshMS, and share files.

Serval Project batphone P2P mobile mesh

The Serval Batphone software will guide through installation using a configuration wizard, the settings allow you to make a call through the Serval network, suspend services to allow your phone to operate as normal with a mobile phone company providing coverage, and reset your phone number, which can contain from 5 to 32 digits, numbers starting with 11 are reserved for emergency lines. If something does not work you can troubleshoot problems by going to the Wifi settings changing the SSID, frequency channel or router implementation, advanced users can create a new mesh on a different subnet changing the network address.

Serval makes use of SipDroid, an open source free VoIP client for Android, options found on SipDroid can be found in Serval too.

Serval Project mesh phone network P2P

Although the initial idea of this project is to provide mobile phone coverage to extreme poverty and remote zone areas, I can envision the utility of this network by a group of acute paranoid people concerned about mobile phone companies keeping logs of their calls or fed up paying high fees, but every single node in the network would have to be trusted for this since they route the calls, probably not feasible with you have a large number of devices and impersonation is fairly trivial since there is no central authority allocating phone numbers, solutions to these problems could come in the form of call encryption and requiring a verbal identification password when the call is established.

Currently still in development, it has been successfully tested by the developers in the Australian outback to make P2P mobile phone calls covering 1 square kilometer, future features include filesharing with people who are not reachable at the moment and a version for Apple iOS.

Visit Serval Project homepage

9 August, 2012
Encrypt Android and iPhone text messages with TXTcrypt

TXTCrypt is a free app for Android, iPhone, Palm and desktop computer to encrypt any text message, from SMS up to notes, an online version exists to encrypt/decrypt messages if you do not want to download the app.TXTCrypt uses RC4 for encryption, a malleable and quick stream cipher designed in RSA laboratories, these days it is not considered secure enough to withstand a state sponsored attack on your communications but it should stop the average hacker.

TXTCrypt uses symmetric encryption, where you password protect your text message and it can be decrypted by anyone who knows it, a system will have to be designed to pass on the password, which should be as long as possible to employ the full 64bit cipher strength.

TXTCrypt mobile phone text encryption

While more secure encryption apps exist, TXTCrypt appeal lies on its simplicity and multiple platform support, being available as a Java download means that this program will run in obscure operating systems like Solaris and FreeBSD, adding to Windows, Mac and Linux.

Being available for desktop as well as mobile phones it is also a strong point, as long as your security needs are low this is a good app, otherwise search for an encryption app using the AES cipher.

Visit TXTCrypt homepage

22 July, 2012
Anti-forensics mobile phone app Wickr

Wickr is an all-round free smartphone app for the iPhone with an Android version coming soon, it provides text, image, audio and video encryption with AES256bit, self-destructing messages with a timer regulating who can read text, photo or video messages and how long for they are available for retrieval but its best feature is possibly Wickr destroying files metadata erasing all attached personal information identifying the author and file creation details with a data shredder making sure that when you erase something it is really gone beyond recovery. The service also hides usernames and phone serial number by adding several random digits to each value and salting and hashing it to make it undecipherable.

Even thought you need an account with Wickr you can still use this app anonymously, you are not asked for any identifiable information, minimal connection logs are kept and they do not contain anything that could be linked to a user, the messages stored in Wickr servers are all encrypted, it would not be possible to force the company to reveal its content, the password to decipher the data is only kept in your own phone. Your mobile phone provider will see that your are connecting Wickr servers but they will not be able to read your messages or learn who you are communicating with, any logging from their part to spy on you would be unproductive.

Wickr antiforensics mobile app

The only weak spot Wickr has is that the phone screen capture utility can be used to copy a time restricted message, Apple does not allow developers to disable screen capture on their iPhones and there is nothing that can be done about this. The app complies with HIPAA requirements for encryption and privacy and encryption is FIPS 140-3 compliant, a U.S. government computer security standard issued by NIST, standing for Federal Information Processing Standards. The app is the brainchild of a former defense contractor and a former forensics investigator, these are people with the know how, not some some CEO expert in marketing learning about a product on the go as it often is, the antiforensics expertise of the people behind the app shows in the end product quality.

To secure your communications the app will have to be installed in both phones, sender and receiver, home users can use all features for free but if you would like to send a message to multiple people at once, a typical corporate use, you will be asked to upgrade. This app can punch a big hole in data retention laws.

Visit Wickr homepage

11 July, 2012