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The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

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Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#421

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

sneak wrote: post #333
ryandrake wrote: post #309

The biggest "evil" that has been committed (and is still being committed) against computing has been normalizing this idea of not having root access to a device you supposedly own. That having root access to your computer, and therefore being the ultimate authority over what gets run on it, is bad or risky or dangerous. That "sideloading" is weird and needs a separate name, and is not the normal case of simply loadin…

It’s not an evil at all. For 99% of people who aren’t “computer people”, when we gave them that, we got the Bonzai Buddy and 47 other malware toolbars installed. Did we forget 2003 already? App sandboxing and system file integrity is one of the most beneficial security features of modern computing, and the vast majority of people have no desire to turn it off. You can buy rootable phones. People overwhelmingly choose…

"I don't like Bonzi Buddy so people should be prevented from installing it."

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#422

Post by morshu9001 »

akdor1154 wrote: post #380
chrneu wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol you should see how bad it is nowadays. Like 90% of my traffic is from SE Asia or germany trying to scrape my site. I blocked like a dozen countries because of it. Singapore itself is an insane amount of traffic for me.

Singapore could be due to being a common VPN exit node for within SE Asia? Close by and avoids the most common regional blacklists (and gov firewalls of course).

I saw lots of Singapore traffic back in the early 2010s too, and often see it listed on random free VPN and proxy sites

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#423

Post by andy99 »

thisislife2 wrote: post #372
ploxiln wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think, practically, everyone will need at least a cheap-ish android or iphone, perhaps $300 (and a new one every few years ...), to be their locked-down "agent" for using financial or government services. It's not for you, it's for the government/banks, it is their agent for talking to you. Kinda weird, if you think about it. But that seems to be the way it's heading.

Or ... just don't install the apps and use the browser to do your banking.

My (Canadian) bank extorted me into installing their app, literally blocking me from doing transfers of my own money without it - I had to install it and take a picture of myself and my ID. After this I was able to switch to sms authentication and delete it, but they’re obviously trying to force people onto the app, and eventually they will do so more aggressively.

Of course in Canada we have a banking oligopoly that is effectively there just to rob people, but ironically any of the “challenger” startup banks are 100% app based afaik

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#424

Post by lxgr »

pie_flavor wrote: post #383
hephaes7us wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The evil is enshrining other people's choices into law, unnecessarily. There was never going to be anything preventing non-technical folks from buying iPhones. They can and should have what they like. Why should there be a law that forces that same compromise onto anyone who can only afford a single device and needs to use it to access their bank?

Because when you don't do this, people get scammed out of money. If there is a series of buttons you can press to circumvent the anti-scam measures, then the scammers simply walk you through pressing those buttons. If you cover them in giant warning labels the scammers simply add explanations into their patter. The buttons must physically not exist, for gullible people to not get scammed out of money. The next respon…

> Because when you don't do this, people get scammed out of money.

No, only when you don't do this and nothing else to improve security. You're presenting a false dichotomy.

> If there is a series of buttons you can press to circumvent the anti-scam measures, then the scammers simply walk you through pressing those buttons.

If the scammers can walk somebody through doing all that, why would they stop at just asking them to send money over to them "to safekeep it because of a compromised account" or whatever the social engineering scheme of the week is?

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#425

Post by stavros »

amelius wrote: post #418
ryandrake wrote: post #309

The biggest "evil" that has been committed (and is still being committed) against computing has been normalizing this idea of not having root access to a device you supposedly own. That having root access to your computer, and therefore being the ultimate authority over what gets run on it, is bad or risky or dangerous. That "sideloading" is weird and needs a separate name, and is not the normal case of simply loadin…

Well it has always been the case with the mobile telephony IC. Way too dangerous to leave it open to hackers.

What are the dangers that can't be dealt with server-side?

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#426

Post by jjulius »

notpushkin wrote: post #193
jjulius wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By 2026, you'll need two phones... Need ? Unless and/or until the ability to log in and do your banking, healthcare, etc. via desktop/laptop goes away, then you don't need a phone to do any of that. Yes, 2FA may be required but in the tangential experience of myself, my partner and my two closest friends, we have multiple 2FA options available to us for our banking/healthcare apps that don't require a smartphone. I…

You don’t do any important stuff on your phone. Others might not have the luxury. Notably, in Vietnam people use QR payments a lot . If you want to interact with them by, say, paying at a small local restaurant, you’ll need a phone (or a stack of cash, and please do prepare change).

>... or a stack of cash...

So I don't, actually, need a phone in that instance...

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#427

Post by LorenPechtel »

tadfisher wrote: post #291
derefr wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not if you want to use tap-to-pay systems.

Smartwatches are great for this.

Yeah, in low-fraud scenarios it's a very good idea. Otherwise, though, you have the problem of what happens when a robber takes it.

I'm thinking a ring type device might be better--put a pulse oximeter into it, you unlock it with your phone, it remains unlocked only so long as it gets basically perfect data from the oximeter, locks if it fails for a second. Thus said robber can neither snatch your ring nor cut off your finger and use it. I like the metal mesh straps that can hold my device very snugly against my skin without being tight and that would be good enough, but a looser strap would not.

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#428

Post by therealmarv »

lucasjans wrote: post #375

I have a Vietnam bank account tho I live in the States now. I recently enabled developer mode in my Android phone, didn't think much of it. But later when I open my mobile banking app it told me to disable developer mode in order to open the app. It's not just root that they block.

you are as developer already half way on the evil side in their opinion ;)

It's ridiculous.

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#429

Post by fuzzzerd »

jacobthesnakob wrote: post #220
tux3 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a trend of online banks forcing the use of an app. I can't login to one of my banks' website since last year without using a QR code from their app. Of course they slathered the app with tracking, 'security', and analytics SDKs, so rooted devices are rejected. I had no way to log into this bank account after they made that change, which is simply wonderful. Anyways, they're not yet at the point where they've…

Normiefication. Normies do everything on their phones; it’s the companies meeting the masses where they are. I’ve seen people fight for their lives to do a spreadsheet on their phones when there’s a laptop they own gathering dust less than 50 feet away.

This term needs to catch on, this is the first I've seen it, bit it explains why so many prodict decisions are made and those who know better/different are just too small a minority to get any say.

We're dragged into this kicking and screaming and yet normies think we're the crazy ones.

Re: The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app

#430

Post by therealmarv »

Magnusmaster wrote: post #2

The Vietnamese government has mandated all banking apps to detect if either the phone has been rooted, the bootloader has been unlocked, or ADB is enabled and force quit if that's the case.

the funny thing is... you can go around that with root if you know how.
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