Android applications for security and privacy
Starting from the principle that as it was said for computers, all the more so it can be said that, a connected smarphone is an insecure smarphone, there are however apps that can mitigate at least in part (although in fact it is a titanic enterprise) exposure to viruses or to compromise privacy on our mobile phone.
In this article I want to suggest some apps that try to stem the security and privacy flaws of our mobile phones, plus some advice on using devices in a more conscious way.
Hypatia is an antivirus software that was maintained by Divest, unfortunately its maintainers decided to abandon some interesting projects such as the DivestOS operating system alternative to android and compatible with many mobile phones and consequently abandoned Hypatia.
However the software is still working and you can update the database, Hypatia is great as it is an antivirus in real-time then detects any malicious software automatically.
There is currently no viable alternative for which although no longer supported until you can still use it and update it I suggest you continue to use this software.
To download it and see all the functions of Hypatia I leave you a link below:
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/us.spotco.malwarescanner/
Another software that must not miss on our mobile phone is Rethink DNS software that acts as dns servers with customizable filters to block apps that connect to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and in general every app can be controlled and limited by this software, this ensures privacy and blocks the sending of unwanted data.
Easy to use you can find the video guide on the site for the first configuration.
Link to Rethink DNS
https://rethinkdns.com/
Do you want to send a file between phones or pc anonymously and encrypted even without your interlocutor installing OnionShare?
With this application you can share files and folders as you would with gdrive by sharing the link to which only those you shared your password with will access.
OnionShare is not only limited to this but is a server capable of hosting a static html website, you can use it as an anonymous chat and receive all files under encrypted Tor network.
Link to OnionShare
https://onionshare.org/
For those who want to have a Gdrive style server but private, easy to use and that can share with other people and synchronize your mobile folders using the server such as backup photos, videos, files etc Syncthing is the solution.
Easy to install on Windows, Mac or Linux we can create a server that synchronizes the content of one or more folders of our mobile phone in order to save and share what we want, and that we need as backup in case of theft or loss of the mobile phone but without going through Google or other BigTech scanning our files.
With Syncthing you will have the private and secure solution to share, backup and sync your files and without space limits, no longer maximum 10gb but the capacity you want to dedicate to your files, so the limit is our hard drive.
Link to Syncthing
https://syncthing.net/
These were just some of the most interesting apps in terms of privacy and security however there would be many more such as SimpleX chat, Privacy Indicator, Orbot, Netbird that further protect our privacy that you can find on F-Droid.
Some useful advice and correct behavior to avoid compromising our data and our security.
1) The more apps you download on your mobile phone the more risk and attack surface increases
Having hundreds of applications inside your mobile phone does nothing but increase the number of connections, use of GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi with which applications can track us and send data, so having fewer applications is essential not to run into problems.
2) Switch off Bluetooth, Wifi and location when you don't need it
If you have wifi always active without using your mobile phone can be counterproductive for your security remember Google listens to you....
No it’s not a conspiracy theory but a de facto google assistant in order to work must always be listening otherwise how would you understand when interpenetrating it with “OK Google”?
3) Do not share data on Google, Facebook and other platforms.
I know what you think, it's impossible not to do it, and instead it's not like for every product there's another Free and open source much safer than selling your data and guaranteeing anonymity.
Data that are on server without protection and centralized like most BigTech companies are not safe so you should avoid them as the plague.
4) Common sense advice, pose your mobile phone and do not use it
The more you use your mobile phone with apps like Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok and more endorphin stimuli, visual stimuli turn into satisfaction with a like on a post with views on a video etc etc. This is not good for you and those around you, making you a drug addict without drugs, lowering your level of reasoning and distracting you from being productive.
Recently, children from a school have been taken off their phones and put inside a closed cell phone holder for 8 hours after a few days their attention and productivity has returned to a good level compared to before.
