Nate,
My R&D group has actually been doing some work along these lines. I've
been working to get our current work open sourced so we can share some of
the lessons we have learned and some or all of our relevant code. I'm not
sure how long it will take for me to get permission, but I am hoping it
will be some time this month. Keep me in the loop on this discussion (if
it moves outside of this list, I already read this list).
One of the key issues here is that the "boot off CD" model for desktops /
laptops translates poorly into the main model of SD card boot on Android
devices. Most Android devices will not boot automatically from an SD card,
which means that in general traces must be left on the phone (we are
currently just working with phones) of the fact that you use / have used
Tails. We can ensure that anything that happens during a Tails session is
encrypted before it can touch persistent store, but we want the same level
of deniability offered by CD or USB boot on a laptop. If possible on an
un-rooted phone even.
On the same note: If someone has or wants to build a list of devices that
will automatically boot from SD card if it is inserted, or if some magic
key combination is pressed during boot, I would be insanely happy. I think
we have part of such a list which is one of the things I want to open up
when I can. I know there are some, but we want to build a solution for a
broader range of devices, and it seems like auto-SD boot is rare on phones.
On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 1:56 PM, Nathan of Guardian <
nathan@???> wrote:
> > Hello, everyone. Finally joining this list.
>
> I'd like to start an overdue discussion on how we can bring TAILS to
> smartphone or tablet hardware in a usable way. I know we can produce a
> firmware/ROM based on Android or possibly Ubuntu Touch that matches
> the TAILS spec, but the question for me has been how do we match the
> "boot from CD/USB" aspect of TAILS.
>
> There are two interesting developments on this front:
>
> 1) An increasing amount of devices allow you to mount USB storage [0]
> from the Micro USD port. This might be an opportunity to create a
> recover/bootloader that can load a TAILS Mobile image from attached
> storage.
>
> 2) Ubuntu has just released a dual boot system[1] that allows easy
> switching between Android and Ubuntu on one device. If TAILS Mobile
> were to be based on Ubuntu Touch, then this would allow for a nice
> device with a standard Android system for daily use, and then an easy
> to access TAILS mode for more sensitive work.
>
> Apologies if I have missed any discussion or progress on TAILS Mobile
> distribution, but better late than never!
>
> All the best,
> +n8fr8
>
>
> [0]
>
> http://www.gadgets4geeks.com.au/product/micro-usb-to-usb-otg-cable-adapter-motorola-moto-x
>
> [1]
>
> http://developer.ubuntu.com/2013/12/announcing-ubuntu-and-android-dual-boot-developer-preview/
> > _______________________________________________
> tails-dev mailing list
> tails-dev@???
> https://mailman.boum.org/listinfo/tails-dev
>
--
Sincerely Yours,
Thomas S. Benjamin
