The pursuit of digital sovereignty across Europe has elevated clouds, networks, and data infrastructure to the forefront of strategic priorities. However, the ubiquitous and personal device, the smartphone, has yet to receive this critical attention.
This oversight is particularly concerning, given the reliance of governments, emergency services, enterprises, and individuals on devices governed by external operating systems, which are often neither fully auditable nor influenceable. The implications of this gap have become increasingly untenable.
Soverli, a spin-off from ETH Zurich, is skillfully addressing this deficit by offering a novel perspective on mobile security and autonomy, buoyed by a $2.6 million pre-seed funding round led by Founderful, with contributions from the ETH Zurich Foundation, Venture Kick, and established cybersecurity specialists.
This fresh influx of capital will enable Soverli to bolster its engineering team, extend support to additional smartphone families, enhance integrations with device management systems, and collaborate intimately with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Its long-term objective is explicit: to revolutionize the software layering on smartphones, thereby bridging the crucial divide in digital sovereignty without necessitating sacrifices from the user.
Breaking the Security–Usability Trade-off
Contemporary smartphones typically revolve around a singular operating system that monopolizes device control.
Efforts to bolster security within this framework often entail the curtailment of features, restrictions on applications, or an implicit demand for users to place immense trust in the operating system vendor.
This predicament engenders an unsettling compromise between usability and sovereignty for governments, public institutions, journalists, and industries deemed critical.
While high-level mobile security solutions exist, they tend to be reserved for extreme-risk contexts, rendering them impractical for most users.
Soverli eradicates this compromise by innovating the application of security measures. It introduces a robust, isolated environment that operates alongside the conventional smartphone experience, thus safeguarding sensitive functions without undermining the overall device usability.
This approach delivers significantly enhanced privacy and security—previously accessible only to individuals in high-risk scenarios—while preserving routine functionality for the broader user base.
Why Smartphones Remain a Strategic Weak Point
Today’s smartphones serve as pivotal tools in mission-critical operations spanning emergency response to governmental communications. Yet, they are still closed systems that harbor vulnerabilities related to unforeseen dependencies, mandatory updates, and the potential for large-scale disruptions.
The global outage caused by a single flawed software update last year starkly illustrated the fragility of this configuration.
Until recently, achieving greater control often necessitated compromising usability. Alternative operating systems typically divest essential applications and features, making them impractical for the majority.
Secure smartphones address certain risks but may introduce new ones by enforcing device lockdowns or mandating disruptive reboots between systems. Users, whether institutions or individuals, have been caught in a dichotomy between convenience and authority.
From ETH Zurich Research to a Commercial Breakthrough
According to Ivan Puddu, CEO and co-founder of Soverli, the company emerged from a four-year research endeavor at ETH Zurich aimed at unlocking new smartphone capabilities while attaining superior security levels beyond current platforms.
This research provided a robust technical foundation and validated the approach; however, further progression necessitated an integration level attainable only through commercialization.
The inherent complexity arises as the integration process involves modifying the system software controlled by manufacturers (OEMs).
“OEMs are generally hesitant to grant this level of access. However, our conviction in the potential of this approach to enhance lives led us to determine that commercialization was essential for making it accessible,” he elaborated.
Puddu further noted, “Upon presenting the concept to prospective users, notably within government and public sectors, there was an immediate and enthusiastic response. They perceived our innovation as a method to bolster digital sovereignty while simultaneously providing modern functionality and convenience.
To address this burgeoning demand, we collaborated with OEMs, who acknowledged the commercial potential and granted us the necessary technical access. This momentum propelled us to form a dedicated company and bring our solution to market.”
Secure Messaging in Total Isolation
As a compelling illustration, Soverli showcased the operation of Signal entirely within its isolated environment. Messages remain confidential even in scenarios where the primary operating system is compromised by advanced spyware. Sensitive operations can thus be secured, even while the rest of the smartphone continues to operate seamlessly.
This architectural design introduces the concept of sovereign-grade security as a viable option for everyday devices for the first time.
From Pilots to Public Infrastructure
Early prototypes swiftly garnered attention from governments, public-sector entities, and enterprises in search of operational security without mandating users to resort to restrictive hardware.
European smartphone manufacturers and system integrators also grasped the strategic implications, facilitating Soverli’s transition from research project to independent enterprise.
The initial deployments prioritize mission-critical communications. Public-sector pilot initiatives are already underway with organizations tasked with emergency response and essential infrastructure.
Should the primary operating system experience failure due to configuration errors or cyberattacks, Soverli’s isolated environment remains operational, preserving communication and workflow for police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other essential responders.
This framework also extends protection to journalists, human rights advocates, and enterprises adopting bring-your-own-device strategies, enabling secure work environments alongside personal use without invasive controls.
What Are the Future Plans?
Puddu stated, “One of the standout features of our current offering is our capability to facilitate the most secure form of messaging on a mobile device.
We dramatically reduce the amount of code that must be trusted and error-free for executing messaging applications (such as Signal or Threema) by a factor of 500.
This achievement is possible because we execute these apps in complete isolation from the main operating system (Android), within a dedicated section of the device designed explicitly for these applications.
In the future, we also aim to support dual Android operating systems operating concurrently, one capable of running Google Mobile Services (like the Play Store), and the other entirely “de-Googlified” or open-source for complete auditability.
This would empower users to selectively manage their data—deciding which information remains within a de-Googled OS and which services they prefer to utilize. This means, for instance, that a user may choose to retain an image from AI training, while still benefiting from the functionalities of an AI assistant on the Google-controlled OS.
Additionally, we aspire to develop the capability for more than two operating systems to run in parallel—envisioning scenarios where three variations, including two distinct Android versions alongside a dedicated OS for messaging applications, could coexist.
Ultimately, our goal is to cultivate a more open ecosystem, encouraging independent developers to experiment with and deploy various operating systems on smartphones.
We envision establishing a community of developers that can innovate and create new functionalities, thereby unlocking novel use cases.
“Availability is crucial; yet organizations still depend on operating systems they cannot manage or audit,” emphasized Ivan Puddu. “We have constructed a fully auditable sovereign layer for smartphones that remains operational even when Android is imperiled.
It represents a paradigm shift: we no longer must simply hope the OS remains reliable; Soverli ensures continuity in the event of failures, all while enabling users to maintain their modern smartphone experience.”
“Individuals deserve devices that they can genuinely trust, and OEMs must be compelled to deliver these assurances,” remarked Antonia Albert, an investor at Founderful.
“Soverli’s Swiss-crafted sovereign layer stands as a groundbreaking innovation that possesses the potential to redefine mobile security paradigms.”
Source link: Techfundingnews.com.
