FAQ

How do the ShieldBook security features work/What does it protect against?

A ShieldBook will stop most hacking attempts from accessing your private data. One of the main features of Qubes OS is that everything is done inside separate virtual machines (VM) to contain different tasks and applications. Think of a virtual machine as a computer inside your computer. The VMs are not allowed to communicate with each other or even your laptop hardware such as wireless card, USB ports, and camera, unless you specially allow it. A virtual machine inside of Qubes OS is known as a Qube.

If one of your VM (Virtual Machine) Qubes gets compromised, it won't effect any of your other VMs. For example, if you open a sketchy link and get hacked on your email Qube, your file manager Qube won't be effected and neither will your work Qube. The default Linux distributions offered by Qubes OS for VMs are also generally more resistant to hacking attempts than other distributions and OSs.

 

Additionally, if you use Whonix (one of the default Linux options to use in a VM) to route data over the Tor network, it becomes especially difficult for advertisers and corporations to create an ad profile on you, increasing your potential anonymity.

While our Debian Linux option is also reasonably secure and won't spy on you like Windows and Mac OS, Qubes comes with the advantage of VM isolation if you're subjected to a cyber attack.

Simply speaking, if you're hacked, with Qubes you only lose the particular VM in question instead of the whole machine. Most of the default Linux distributions offered by Qubes OS are also somewhat more secure than Debian Linux.

Will a ShieldBook protect me against government surveillance and hacking?

While a ShieldBook will be more much more secure than laptops with Windows, Linux, or Mac OS, nothing is 100% secure. If a government really wants to spy on, or hack you, there's not much you can do about it. While Qubes OS will protect against a variety of lesser threats, Governments have tricks including numerous zero-day exploits that they can use to bypass Qubes OS's virtualization or compromise your device via other methods.

Additionally, ShieldBooks do not have Intel Management Engine (ME) disabled yet. While it hasn't been proven, it's possible that Intel ME is being used by the government to monitor some individuals through tracking all the data that goes through their Intel CPU. We hope to disable Intel ME in future laptop models once we've scaled sufficiently to work with a specialist corporation that can make a custom BIOS to disable Intel ME.

If you live in a creative access country or are a journalist, a USB with Tails OS will be a much better solution, though not 100% effective. It's very difficult to hide if a government wants to spy on or hack you specifically.

We do urge you to do your own research on the benefits and limits of Qubes OS to see if it meets your use case though.

 

What are the shipping times for a ShieldBook?

Delivery time for a ShieldBook is up to 14 days from time of order.

 

How strong/useful for daily tasks is a ShieldBook?

Qubes OS will require some tinkering to set a lot of programs up. Because of it's security focus, it can be difficult to configure some applications and allow certain features. If you want a particular program, you'll need to find out whether your Qubes VM allows for it to be installed to that OS or whether you need a different Qube with a different OS. A VM with windows is an option you can utilize if you need a specific app that won't work on any Linux distribution.

If you were mainly just concerned with your OS spying on you before, our Debian Linux option is great choice for reasonable security without as much inconvenience. There are many applications that are easy to install with Debian Linux.

However, it should be noted that this option won't be as secure, as any attack that succeeds will compromise your whole computer as opposed to Qubes OS where only the specific VM will get hacked.

What is your return policy?

See our Replace and Fix policy.

 

Do your laptops come with CoreBoot/ is Intel ME disabled?

No, they don't. We hope to disable Intel ME in future laptop models once we've scaled sufficiently to work with a specialist corporation that can make a custom BIOS to disable Intel ME. This is because there's no common option for Coreboot on Intel 12th gen processors.

 

How does the ShieldBook V1 compare to the Purism Librem 14?

A ShieldBook offers far more performance for the price you pay.

Base Librem 14 model vs ShieldBook V1 base model:
8GB DDR4 vs 32G DDR4 (4x RAM)
I7 10710U vs I7 1260P (2 CPU generations newer)
250GB vs 1 Terabyte (4x Storage)
14" screen vs 15.6" (Slightly larger screen)
1400$ vs $900 (2/3 the price)

 Purism has also notably been fairly lacking in customer support, often taking months to process refunds and customer issues as well as taking months to ship products. The Librem 14 is currently still on back order as of the date of writing (11/2024).

However, it should be noted that the Librem 14 does have Intel ME disabled and features physical kill switches. While kill switches are only relevant if you've already been hacked, the lack is Intel ME in the Librem 14 is relevant.

While it's not proven, it's possible that world governments are using Intel ME to monitor some individuals through tracking the data that their Intel CPU processes.

It should be noted that if you do attract the ire of a government, intel ME is far from the only threat vector and you are almost certainly going to get hacked from a different exploit.

Overall, while a ShieldBook has much greater value and better customer support, the Librem 14 is slightly more secure with their kill switches and has an advantage over the ShieldBook when it comes to possible government monitoring.