Android Open Source Project (AOSP)
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CIS Mobile
Headquartered in the United States, CIS mobile has a mission to address Government needs for a modern, convenient, and secure mobility platform. The altOS platform is American-made, and the U.S. source code is available to our customers for review. Read More »
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CIS Mobile Announces altOS on Pixel 4a Smartphones
CIS Mobile, an Acorn Growth Company and a mobile security leader, announced the availability of altOS on the Pixel 4a smartphone. By combining the latest Pixel hardware and our altOS secure mobility platform, government customers now can protect sensitive data while using the latest high-performance smartphone. CIS Mobile’s altOS is a security-enhanced Android operating system designed with the extra management, security, and privacy features needed for sensitive government use cases, and used by multiple government intelligence and defense agencies.
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CIS Mobile Announces Major Update to the altOS Platform
CIS Mobile, a leader in mobile security, today announced the release of altOS 10. This new major release adds significant security, management, and control features for sensitive government user cases and updates the altOS operating system to Android 10. In addition to the new privacy features incorporated into Android 10, this major update to the altOS platform includes...Secure Mode upgrades. Secure Mode enables altOS devices to dynamically control access to peripherals that might be used to exfiltrate data from sensitive government sites, or that could reveal sensitive location data to a foreign adversary.
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Debunking Four Myths About Android, Google, And Open-Source
Several stories recently have spread misinformation about how Google licenses Android and its services. Here's the real story on how Android licensing works with open source and Linux. Read More »
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Google’s Iron Grip On Android: Controlling Open Source By Any Means Necessary
Six years ago, in November 2007, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) was announced. The original iPhone came out just a few months earlier, capturing people's imaginations and ushering in the modern smartphone era. While Google was an app partner for the original iPhone, it could see what a future of unchecked iPhone competition would be like... Read More »
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Simon Hartley
Simon Hartley is leading the US introduction of the altOS mobile security platform with a startup company, CIS Mobile (https://cismobile.com), working with early adopters in the Intelligence, Department of Defense (DoD), and Federal Civilian communities. He previously worked with Apple and Samsung in hardening their platforms to meet the needs of the U.S. Government marketplace. He is an advisor and investor in a number of cybersecurity startups in the Washington, DC area.
Telework Challenges in a Mobile Device World Facing a Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting all walks of life. Hospitals and medical professionals are on high alert. Schools are closing. Professional sports teams are playing in empty stadiums and, in some cases, not at all. Companies and governments are reviewing how to reduce health risks while maintaining productivity. An obvious response is to expand their telework programs for employees. Telework or remote worker programs have their challenges, and the concern is genuine for the federal government. There is the need to re-work policies, stretch budgets, deal with security concerns, and a big part of the challenge is the changing workforce as smartphones – rather than PCs and landlines of yesteryear – are the tools of choice.
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The Goldilocks Problem of Mobile Security - Usability vs. Security
The “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” story begins with a girl tasting porridge. The first bowl is too hot, the second is too cold, and the third is “just right.” This article considers mobile device security for government and organizations. The theme is trade-offs between the usability of a mobile device and security for confidential organizational data such as conversations, messages, documents, images, and locations. The security, confidentiality, and integrity of communication are key. However, if the usability of mobile devices for end-users, administrators, and organizations is too challenging, then the availability of the data for productive work is lost.
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Who Controls Your Smartphone? And How to Leverage Open Source to Prevent it from Spying on You
There are many things about today’s world that warrant us asking that question. Do you or the mobile vendor control your smartphones? If you are a consumer, small or medium business (SMB) -- the answer is the vendor...What if you are a large enterprise or a government agency? The answer is still the vendor...How can the user regain control? Not all vendors have locked devices and walled gardens. Google’s line of Pixel hardware, for example, is a mid-market solution whose bootloader allows locking and re-locking. Pixels support two versions of Android. Google Mobile Services (GMS), where free services are tied to data monetization and a UX like Apple and Samsung devices. Secondly, Pixels can run Android Open-Source Project (AOSP) code that shares the same strengths as the GMS build, but the customer controls the code base and updates. There are several companies that are selling AOSP operating system builds for Pixel and other unlockable/lockable mobile phones and tablets...
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