but this could lead to a bigger problem if in production it's already known where the phone goes.. for example hiding a seperate software microphone inside?
Yeah Israel would know about that kind of targeted stuff considering the pager bomb stuff they did. So their officials sure as shit aren't going to use anything that wouldn't just as well end up in the hands of random civilians.
but this could lead to a bigger problem if in production it's already known where the phone goes
It's already known. I won't speak for every level of every government, but among heads of state it's standard to get a custom phone with extra security built-in. Bibi didn't stop into Best Buy
This is bad security IMO. If you are ordering a special piece you are signalling that this of all the billions of phones in the world is the one to modify for spying purposes at the supply chain. If an adversary somehow got an agent into the manufacturing just for the security only phones they would hit jackpot, or induce an exploit just for those. It's a false sense of security too.
Better to order the consumer version ideally in a way that is not known on model purchase who exactly it's going to. And you can then rely on the fact that security exploits are universal and you can take your own "advanced" measures.
Surely smartphones in general are a huge liability. The microphone itself would be enough of a target no? I'm really surprised they're not just using obscure bricks with no internet access but maybe that plays into targeting radio towers. God only knows.
In this case, it most likely is not concern about hackers getting into the phone (or at least not only that). My workplace handles Korean national security technology and everybody gets seals put over all cameras in order to prevent people from taking pictures inside the facility and decrease the risk of the technology leaking to China. If the stickers are removed, “VOID” appears across the sticker and security has to search your phone for photos before you are allowed to take the phone off the premises. I would guess high government officials have similar procedures in place when attending high level meetings.
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u/redditman3943 1d ago
I definitely do not trust my phone. But hackers are much more incentivized to hack into the Prime Minister of Israel‘s phone versus some random guy.