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the situation:

  • I use Android 5.1
  • I'm running the "rooted" variant of fairphone OS, which means that:
    1. I can enable Root access in the developer settings, i.e. I don't need to exploit my phone.
    2. Fairphone promises to deliver security and bug fixes, in general updates for this android version.
  • I think I understand the security implications of using root on android.
  • I want to use a few apps (Titanium Backup, Droidwall and maybe XPrivacy) with root access in a "secure way", which means: I want to limit the security implications described above to the least possible.

my question:

How can I increase the security of the usage of root for some apps in android?

Note: I'm aware of threads like this one. However I ask specifically about how to secure apps which need to have root (or whom I decide to give root). I'm not talking about the general hardening of android.

Community
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toogley
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2 Answers2

1

You can easily do this by being a good, secure user. Follow the basic tenants of security, and be careful of what you install on your phone. After all games are great, but not when they're really viruses. Since it sounds like you're really going for a super secure phone with data archiving and backup, don't install something unless you KNOW it's safe, and keep as few applications as possible on your phone.

After all you if you do the work, then you've done the work. You look like you're well on your way to making a secure, archival-able phone image for yourself. Just in case maybe some anti malware apps aren't a bad idea so you can be sure to reset accounts from another device if it does get compromised.

Robert Mennell
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-4

You have already said the answer to your question:

I want to use a few apps (Titanium Backup, Droidwall and maybe XPrivacy) with root access in a "secure way", which means: I want to limit the security implications described above to the least possible.

Yes, use those apps to secure your phone, but I do not recommend you to install some credit card applications on your phone, because once you have rooted your phone it means a virus can very easily escalate to root permissions now!

Robert Mennell
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Kratos
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    Not if you root your phone correctly. It causes a trigger in the sudo wrapper that asks for permission before giving root, and always will. – Robert Mennell May 05 '16 at 22:24