Pinephone user experience - Possibly compromised by commercial & state-based hackers?

[danimations]

I have friends who work in the security industry who assure me that corporate espionage and sabotage are commonplace. It strikes me that since the cellphone industry is so large and lucrative, it could be safely assumed that corporations would use covert methods to undermine or attack their competitors. It is entirely plausible that commercially-motivated hacking could target the limited pool of Pinephone users for the reason I gave above... to slow the uptake of Pinephone to advantage those presently dominating the mobile phone industry.

Commercial and state-based interference with internet connected devices occurs, and to be clear, I'm not conflating the two or suggesting that they conspire together. Both occur for different reasons. I also accept that Pinephone is essentially still a prototype and things can and do break sometimes, or not work as the user might expect... but that may not account for all problems experienced by all Pinephone users all the time. Pinephone's development status also provides the perfect cover for clandestine attacks, as non-technical users, or those who haven't given much thought to the subject of external interference, would assume, quite reasonably, that is it all just beta bugginess.

Thanks to the folks above who shared advice and ideas for taking extra steps to secure the Pinephone. I have experienced many years of targeted political interference, which was a major driver for me switching to Pinephone in 2020. I have no regrets, but I have had some extraordinary things happen during my Pinephone years... for example, SMS being "held up" for as long as 24 hours, but only between certain contacts... my wife and I, or other specifically time-critical messages pertaining to my professional life.

I note the flagging of group rules and hope this thread remains open so that it can continue to stimulate more rational discussion and idea sharing.