Announcement: Toward a Reasonably Secure Laptop

[Andrew David Wong]

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Dear Qubes Community,

It's no secret that hardware selection is one of the biggest hurdles Qubes
users face. Finding a computer that is secure, trustworthy, and compatible
is more difficult than it should be. In an effort to address the compatibility
aspect of that problem, we introduced the Qubes-certified laptop
program [1] back in 2015.

So far, only one laptop has been Qubes-certified: the Purism Librem 13v1.
A number of users purchased this laptop comfortable in the knowledge that it
would be compatible with Qubes, and it served them well in that regard.
However, the Librem 13v1 is no longer being manufactured, and the Librem 13v2
has not undergone Qubes-certification (nor has any other laptop yet). This
means that the need for compatible hardware is more pressing than ever.

It's important to remember that Qubes-certification is only about
*compatibility* -- not security, trustworthiness, or anything else. Being
Qubes-certified has always meant that a computer has been tested to
ensure that it runs Qubes OS well -- nothing more, nothing less. But we know
that security-conscious users care about more than just compatibility, which
is why we announced updated requirements for Qubes 4.x certification [2]
last year.

So far, no third-party manufacturers have produced a computer
that satisfies these requirements. However, ITL has entered initial talks with
a promising partner with whom we can foresee creating a true Reasonably Secure
Laptop. Our plan is to introduce a tier-based model of laptop support:

- *Level 0: Qubes Compatible Laptop.* As with the Purism Librem 13v1, this
will be a laptop that comes with no guarantees regarding security or
trustworthiness. We'll guarantee only that the laptop is compatible with
Qubes OS. In practice, a vendor who wishes to introduce a Level 0
laptop will typically have to allow for specific choices regarding the GPU,
Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth modules. The vendor will also have to be willing to
"freeze" the configuration of the laptop for at least one year.

- *Level 1: Qubes Certified Laptop.* In addition to meeting all the
requirements of Level 0, this laptop will also have to conform to our
updated requirements for Qubes 4.x certification [2].

- *Level 2: Qubes Stateless Laptop.* For details about this, please see
Joanna Rutkowska's paper State Considered Harmful [3]. We can foresee
multiple levels of compatibility here. However, we expect that it will be at
least two years before a true stateless laptop can be created. In the
immediate future, therefore, we intend to pursue a Level 1 laptop.

Please note that laptops on the Qubes Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) [4]
do not have a specific level. This is because neither ITL nor the Qubes OS
Project makes any affirmations regarding the vast majority of laptops on this
list. Rather, the list is compiled from voluntary contributions from members
of the community like you!

This is just the beginning. There's a long road ahead before we can make
a Reasonably Secure Laptop a reality, but the need is too great to ignore.


[1] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2015/12/09/purism-partnership/
[2] https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2016/07/21/new-hw-certification-for-q4/
[3] https://blog.invisiblethings.org/papers/2015/state_harmful.pdf
[4] https://www.qubes-os.org/hcl/


This post can be viewed on the Qubes website at:
https://www.qubes-os.org/news/2017/07/08/toward-a-reasonably-secure-laptop/

- --
Andrew David Wong (Axon)
Community Manager, Qubes OS
https://www.qubes-os.org
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[Tai...@gmx.com]

I don't think purism should ever be considered an approved product.
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/3anjgm/on_the_librem_laptop_purism_doesnt_believe_in/\
Disclaimer or not people will treat an endorsement from the developer
team as vouching for the security/privacy of a device.

Potential honest vendors:
Thinkpenguin
System76
Vikings (they are the only vendor that sells truly free firmware
prebuilts such as the libre-coreboot asus boards KGPE-D16/KCMA-D8 and
the various older thinkpads)

Going forward the only real options to have a performance freedom laptop
that is affordable is by using owner controlled workstation boards with
non-x86 CPU's such as AppliedMicro ARM (one 35W AppM CPU is equivalent
to a mid range sandy bridge desktop model) and putting them in a custom
"1U" case with a keyboard screen battery etc.

Doing a performance board fab alone costs millions of dollars so most
small laptop vendors including purism simply buy OEM models from quanta
and re-badge them chasing the laptop refresh cycle which results in not
being able to buy a new laptop by the time its firmware port is done,
whereas workstation/server/embedded boards usually have a 5-7 year
manufacturing guarantee.

[pixel fairy]

On Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 5:07:25 PM UTC-7, Tai...@gmx.com wrote:
> I don't think purism should ever be considered an approved product.
> https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/3anjgm/on_the_librem_laptop_purism_doesnt_believe_in/\
> Disclaimer or not people will treat an endorsement from the developer
> team as vouching for the security/privacy of a device.
>
> Potential honest vendors:
> Thinkpenguin
> System76

ive discussed this with system76. they're aware of qubes, but not interested in supporting it. i do believe them to be an honest vendor, and upfront about the limitations of their hardware. i have a lemur7, and had to install qubes on another machine and move the drive into it to get it working. the qubes-4 initial pre release did install on it, but goes into a reboot loop when you try to run it.