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Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

cnet.com

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Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#131

Post by vel0city »

lopis wrote: post #92
geor9e wrote: post #90

In September 2022, the Samsung S10 went over 150 days without a security patch being available. That caused my work to kick my phone off it's network. Samsung promised quarterly updates before that. So I have been burned by their broken promises. Hopefully they keep them this time.

Your work network can tell which phones got security patches? And that's a requirement for being in the network?

There are a number of MDMs out there that will report patch level of mobile devices. If I was buying an MDM for an enterprise, I wouldn't buy one that lacked this. Ensuring devices are up to date is a pretty critical part of a good security posture.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#132

Post by tortoise_in »

hulium wrote: post #21
Steltek wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think people are naturally choosing "Samsung Internet" as their favorite browser?

Why not, it supports ad blockers so at least it is better than Chrome. Also it can put the URL bar at the bottom which makes much more sense on a phone.

Wait you on hacker news and don't use Firefox?

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#133

Post by krab »

rekoil wrote: post #130
krab wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the difference from the previous state? You had to carry a driving license but the government had all the info anyway. If you didn't have the license on you, they'd find you in the DB anyway. Possibly you get a €10 fine. The electronic driving license is just a simplification to me. You don't have to carry anything.

Many people hear digitised and they think big brother is watching , I honestly don't know where they get it from because as you say the data we're talking about is already data the government keeps by necessity, that it's now in your phone doesn't automatically make it nefarious. That said, there are things in the category of surveillance that having it in an app do enable. For this reason I would personally like to…

While removing the driving license carriage requirement is a strict removal of a hassle, I understand where people don't trust the electronic ID card.

Unlike the driving license, you still need to carry it, either in plastic or as an app in your phone. And it's becoming a bit complicated. It's not a self-contained QR code with an electronic signature. It's a whole system that allows you to share only part of the info to someone (e.g. only age in the pub). It also remembers who asked for that info.

Experience from CZ and very fresh. The electronic ID app for instance is still only a few days old.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#134

Post by krab »

rekoil wrote: post #129
dotnet00 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The records were already digitized given the police's ability to look up the license for you if you provided name and date of birth. So digital licenses are just taking away the physical abstraction. There's a concern over what happens if the systems or networks go down, but presumably physical ID isn't completely outlawed yet.

From what I've heard about things like eIDAS there is considerable technical competence behind the specifications for these laws, I would expect there to be mechanisms for cryptographically secure offline validation.

As I understand it the validation happens online to avoid tracking. Nowadays banks and telcos share a lot of information on their clients. So instead of giving out the unchanging personal ID number (containing the date of birth), you're supposed to give out the number of your ID card that changes every five or ten years. Or, in the online world, the bank gets a unique token.

I don't think it will fulfill that purpose in practice. The name plus date of birth is a very good tracking identifier and people will be still giving DOB to these companies.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#135

Post by Moldoteck »

seanwilson wrote: post #40

What budget phones right now have a decent number of years for security updates and run stock Android? I tried to get this info a couple of years ago and it took some serious digging to find when each phone was released and how long updates are meant to last as there's no central place to find this. Maybe there's a good resource for this now? Nokia phones are meant to be nearly stock Android I think with 3 years of u…

fairphone? The last one will have 8y + it's repairable. In terms of performance/camera quality it's far from apple/top snapdragon but still

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#136

Post by rekoil »

krab wrote: post #134
rekoil wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've heard about things like eIDAS there is considerable technical competence behind the specifications for these laws, I would expect there to be mechanisms for cryptographically secure offline validation.

As I understand it the validation happens online to avoid tracking. Nowadays banks and telcos share a lot of information on their clients. So instead of giving out the unchanging personal ID number (containing the date of birth), you're supposed to give out the number of your ID card that changes every five or ten years. Or, in the online world, the bank gets a unique token. I don't think it will fulfill that purpose…

There are even cooler ways of doing this, look up eIDAS and/or Zero-Knowledge Proofs.

Basically, with the right cryptography, my app can prove my license is valid without revealing any PII. Or in the case of eIDAS, binary questions like "is rekoil 18 years or older?".

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#137

Post by rekoil »

krab wrote: post #133
rekoil wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people hear digitised and they think big brother is watching , I honestly don't know where they get it from because as you say the data we're talking about is already data the government keeps by necessity, that it's now in your phone doesn't automatically make it nefarious. That said, there are things in the category of surveillance that having it in an app do enable. For this reason I would personally like to…

While removing the driving license carriage requirement is a strict removal of a hassle, I understand where people don't trust the electronic ID card. Unlike the driving license, you still need to carry it, either in plastic or as an app in your phone. And it's becoming a bit complicated. It's not a self-contained QR code with an electronic signature. It's a whole system that allows you to share only part of the info…

> I understand where people don't trust the electronic ID card.

Me too, the reason I trust it is that I understand the (really cool) cryptography behind it, and most don't.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#138

Post by rchaud »

jwells89 wrote: post #4

A good first step. The next one I’d like to see is a one-tap toggle that disables the bulk of Samsung OS customizations and “me too” apps/ecosystem cruft, as some other vendors have. Yes it can be removed manually, but with one of Android’s chief selling points being the choice it affords users, I shouldn’t need to do that, particularly on expensive flagship devices.

Seems like you just want a Pixel phone with all-Google apps.

Samsung's built in apps are not "cruft" by any means.

The Notes app has pen support for sketching and PDF import/annotate, which lets me use a printable calendar digitally. The Browser app has dark mode and adblock; good luck with that on Google Chrome. The Music app doesn't try to upsell me to a YouTube Music plan.

I also use Bixby routines to quickly set custom timers for exercise, cooking etc.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#139

Post by RadiozRadioz »

jwells89 wrote: post #4

A good first step. The next one I’d like to see is a one-tap toggle that disables the bulk of Samsung OS customizations and “me too” apps/ecosystem cruft, as some other vendors have. Yes it can be removed manually, but with one of Android’s chief selling points being the choice it affords users, I shouldn’t need to do that, particularly on expensive flagship devices.

I don't think customization is a chief selling point, not for 99% of people. It's only a selling point for the types of people who talk about the selling points of operating systems.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#140

Post by PawgerZ »

rchaud wrote: post #138
jwells89 wrote: post #4

A good first step. The next one I’d like to see is a one-tap toggle that disables the bulk of Samsung OS customizations and “me too” apps/ecosystem cruft, as some other vendors have. Yes it can be removed manually, but with one of Android’s chief selling points being the choice it affords users, I shouldn’t need to do that, particularly on expensive flagship devices.

Seems like you just want a Pixel phone with all-Google apps. Samsung's built in apps are not "cruft" by any means. The Notes app has pen support for sketching and PDF import/annotate, which lets me use a printable calendar digitally. The Browser app has dark mode and adblock; good luck with that on Google Chrome. The Music app doesn't try to upsell me to a YouTube Music plan. I also use Bixby routines to quickly set…

Samsung Notes is the only thing that I miss after switching to Pixel. It was everything I needed in a notes app with seemingly no bloat.
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