397
Why the NSA Is Right About Periodically Restarting Your Smartphone (gizmodo.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
102 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

I will give that a read. I have been unintentionally using this feature, anytime I expect I won't use the GOS pixel for a bit I restart it, I've also found it disables biometrics as a security measure. Cool stuff.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It doesn't intentionally disable biometrics. Disabling biometrics is just a logical consequence of wiping the encryption keys from RAM. Your data is encrypted with your password as the key (not exactly, it first goes through a key derivation function, but the PIN/password is the entry point for the KDF). Your biometric information can't decrypt your data, as your data is not encrypted with your biometric information as the key. When using biometrics, the encryption key is kept in RAM, and the biometric data is only validated by the OS. No actual decryption occurs here. The data on your phone is only being decrypted during the first unlock after a reboot. That's why security states are grouped into BFU (before first unlock) and AFU (after first unlock).

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •