this post was submitted on 24 May 2024
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Get a new phone the vendor does support.
Firmware patching is applying low-level firmware to the modem or baseband, similar to a BIOS update on a desktop or server. These binary libraries are (a) proprietary, and (b) opaque to the user (meaning they're not documented like normal software)
Once a vendor drops support for a platform, that's it, that's the end of the line. The device will still work, but any, glitches, firmware vulnerabilities, or updates for network-side changes will no longer be addressed.
Denying reality isn't realistic either.
Knowing your threat model and being aware of your tradeoffs and decisions is useful. Maybe security isn't more important than longevity, but the phone owner should be making a deli rate choice.
With the new pixels having 7 years of support things are improving. It would be nice for them to open source the hardware specs at the end of the support window...
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705
Who's going to be digging into the depths of a 5+ year old phone on the off chance they can find a baseband vulnerability though?
Even if they do find something, the number of people for them to exploit is probably going to be vanishingly small.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/18/22440813/android-devices-active-number-smartphones-google-2021
There are 3 billion Android devices. So basically everyone is incentivized to break in. Especially if the firmware is not updating, that means once you find an exploit it's good forever
Plus, and most people don't realize this, the same chips are used in multiple different phones. So you just have to break the baseband once, and you get into multiple different phone models