Is there a fork of Android (or a way to harden it) that locks down the OS similarly to how Apple does it?
Apple’s implementation can actually protect you from commercial spyware. I’m impressed.
That’s true, all devices are hackable, there’s no 100% protection.
No tool is perfect, but if that’s a security improvement, it might be worth enabling.
I know of at least one instance where lockdown mode protected a user from NSO spyware.
A Citizen Lab’s research confirmed it:
For a brief period, targets that had enabled iOS 16’s Lockdown Mode feature received real-time warnings when PWNYOURHOME exploitation was attempted against their devices. Although NSO Group may have later devised a workaround for this real-time warning, we have not seen PWNYOURHOME successfully used against any devices on which Lockdown Mode is enabled.
It is encouraging to see that Apple’s Lockdown Mode notified targets of in-the-wild attacks. While any one security measure is unlikely to blunt all targeted spyware attacks, and security is a multi-faceted problem, we believe this case highlights the value of enabling this feature for high-risk users that may be targeted because of who they are or what they do.
I didn’t say it wasn’t worth enabling (FWIW I used lockdown mode in the past and now use GrapheneOS); just don’t expect it to protect you from these kinds of threats. You might get lucky, but you can’t rely on it (and it still might be worth it to you just based on that).
A big part of security is understanding what you’re protecting against, and weighing the effect of increasing the security of your system on its usability.
