Cell data vs WiFi Router - Physical security

dasaint100

Hi,

Have a couple of queries.

Have a threat model where an adversary has access to a WiFi router and wifi network and the sim card info written on a data sim.

1.
If the wifi router has been tampered with. Are there hacks that make the router settings and VPN worthless ?

2.
Is there any way using data by ethernet cable from a sim modem, can the data sim can be compromised and used remotely by someone else or show key log history (logins etc) using the cellular data network. To achieve account takeover etc.

Many thanks

AtavisticPuma

dasaint100

If you are running your VPN on your GrapheneOS phone (and not having your router handle the VPN instead) then it doesn't really matter what the router is doing. Even without a VPN, they can see the IPs you connect to, but there aren't really any significant attacks they can do, unless you are using insecure protocols, like typing passwords into a website with http:
Seems to me to be the same question, this is just another router that you don't need to trust.
I also don't think its worth the hassle: Pixels provide separation between the modem hardware and the motherboard to protect against modem-based hacks. I think a graphene phone makes a better secure hotspot than those other portable routers.

So long as you are using modern encrypted protocols you don't really need to worry about hostile networks (no matter if it's a hacked router, a stranger's router, or the mobile network) especially if you are using a VPN and especially with Graphene OS

dasaint100

AtavisticPuma
Much appreciated.
For a laptop, inserting a data sim for a connection would probably be safer than using WiFi for a variety of attacks?