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They'll never ask users to install a root certificate or I'll eat my hat. * It will incur a lot of wrath because it gives them power over your bank account *

They'll never ask users to install a root certificate or I'll eat my hat. * It will incur a lot of wrath because it gives them power over your bank account * Only gullible / ignorant users will actually install the certificate * If your internet access is working, why would you go through extra steps?

DanBC 11y ago
Gullible / ignorant covers about 99.3% of the Internet population.
- sleepychu 11y ago
  Source for that statistic?
  - pille 11y ago
    You might want to try getting out of the HN/SV bubble more often.
  - cpfohl 11y ago
    85.7% of statistics are made up on the spot. 97.1% of people know that! </sarcasm> I don't think this note was intended to be taken literally.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    Good point. I did make it up. Let's take something like using the (now removed) + operator in Google search. http://insidesearch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/search-using-your-terms-verbatim.html http://insidesearch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/search-using-your... > However, we found that users typed the “+” operator in less than half a percent of all searches, and two thirds of the time, it was used incorrectly. 1 in 600 searches used it correctly, another 2 in 600 used it incorrectly. Stuff like that. Or have a look through /r/tipofmytongue for people looking for help to identify songs, tv shows, and films. You'd think they'd include details of roughly when they saw the film, or who any of the actors were (or even what other film they'd been in), and then the plot (with some details), or the name of some of the characters, any music, the genre of movie. But you frequently see people who give very vague information. I won't give examples, but it's really easy to find them. But I do need to remember not to be a judgemental dick about it, and if I was I apologise.
jon-wood 11y ago
Ahh, but it isn't working. Every site you visit gives a certificate error. Don't worry though, you just need to install the Comcast Connect app and all will be well.
mattlutze 11y ago
Most folks in the real world don't know or care what a root certificate is. If their ISP posts a message telling them they have to install something to continue getting "the best internet possible" or, better yet, when the tech comes to install the modem they just do it as part of the installation service, so few people are going to even think about it, let alone know why they shouldn't want it. Remember... we here aren't an accurate facsimile of the general population.
mdpopescu 11y ago
I worked for a company where, as part of one product, users were giving us the user AND PASSWORD for their bank account. We had thousands of users before I left. As a programmer, I was sure that the product wasn't going to be viable... boy was I wrong.
- plonh 11y ago
  This is Yodlee, the USA's largest financial API for consumer products (Mint, etc), endorsed by all large banks and investment firms. They have millions of users.
- kybernetyk 11y ago
  Hah, we have a payment processor here in Germany called "Sofortüberweisung". It works like this: When you want to pay for something you give them your login credentials to your bank account and a TAN and they send the money to the merchant for you. The selling point of this service is that SEPA wire transfers usually take one day. But with their service the merchant gets an instant notification of money received and you can get your stuff one day earlier. It's crazy but people use this and have no problem handling over the keys to their bank account.
  - Silhouette 11y ago
    It's crazy but people use this and have no problem handling over the keys to their bank account. I wonder whether there's more to that story. It seems like a potentially useful payment service, but it also seems like something the banks would surely be aware of. Customers giving up their credentials like that is probably a blatant violation of the bank's normal terms of business, and asking for those credentials or failing to keep them secure seems legally risky for the payment processor as well, particularly if anything ever goes wrong. Are you sure there's no separate agreement or commercial arrangement to cover this, probably between the payment processor and the banks?
    - kuschku 11y ago
      Nope – and most banks even publicly warn that using the service means you lose the money-back guarantee for transactions.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
I have bookmarked this comment and I'll happily remind you to eat your hat when they finally do ask users to do that. I applaud your bravery and self-confidence though.
sneak 11y ago
The Verizon DSL install package CD-ROM used to install a new system root certificate, and that was many years ago.

DanBC 11y ago

Gullible / ignorant covers about 99.3% of the Internet population.

sleepychu 11y ago
Source for that statistic?
- pille 11y ago
  You might want to try getting out of the HN/SV bubble more often.
- cpfohl 11y ago
  85.7% of statistics are made up on the spot. 97.1% of people know that! </sarcasm> I don't think this note was intended to be taken literally.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Good point. I did make it up. Let's take something like using the (now removed) + operator in Google search. http://insidesearch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/search-using-your-terms-verbatim.html http://insidesearch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/search-using-your... > However, we found that users typed the “+” operator in less than half a percent of all searches, and two thirds of the time, it was used incorrectly. 1 in 600 searches used it correctly, another 2 in 600 used it incorrectly. Stuff like that. Or have a look through /r/tipofmytongue for people looking for help to identify songs, tv shows, and films. You'd think they'd include details of roughly when they saw the film, or who any of the actors were (or even what other film they'd been in), and then the plot (with some details), or the name of some of the characters, any music, the genre of movie. But you frequently see people who give very vague information. I won't give examples, but it's really easy to find them. But I do need to remember not to be a judgemental dick about it, and if I was I apologise.

jon-wood 11y ago

Ahh, but it isn't working. Every site you visit gives a certificate error. Don't worry though, you just need to install the Comcast Connect app and all will be well.

mattlutze 11y ago

Most folks in the real world don't know or care what a root certificate is. If their ISP posts a message telling them they have to install something to continue getting "the best internet possible" or, better yet, when the tech comes to install the modem they just do it as part of the installation service, so few people are going to even think about it, let alone know why they shouldn't want it. Remember... we here aren't an accurate facsimile of the general population.

mdpopescu 11y ago

I worked for a company where, as part of one product, users were giving us the user AND PASSWORD for their bank account. We had thousands of users before I left. As a programmer, I was sure that the product wasn't going to be viable... boy was I wrong.

plonh 11y ago
This is Yodlee, the USA's largest financial API for consumer products (Mint, etc), endorsed by all large banks and investment firms. They have millions of users.
kybernetyk 11y ago
Hah, we have a payment processor here in Germany called "Sofortüberweisung". It works like this: When you want to pay for something you give them your login credentials to your bank account and a TAN and they send the money to the merchant for you. The selling point of this service is that SEPA wire transfers usually take one day. But with their service the merchant gets an instant notification of money received and you can get your stuff one day earlier. It's crazy but people use this and have no problem handling over the keys to their bank account.
- Silhouette 11y ago
  It's crazy but people use this and have no problem handling over the keys to their bank account. I wonder whether there's more to that story. It seems like a potentially useful payment service, but it also seems like something the banks would surely be aware of. Customers giving up their credentials like that is probably a blatant violation of the bank's normal terms of business, and asking for those credentials or failing to keep them secure seems legally risky for the payment processor as well, particularly if anything ever goes wrong. Are you sure there's no separate agreement or commercial arrangement to cover this, probably between the payment processor and the banks?
  - kuschku 11y ago
    Nope – and most banks even publicly warn that using the service means you lose the money-back guarantee for transactions.

TeMPOraL 11y ago

I have bookmarked this comment and I'll happily remind you to eat your hat when they finally do ask users to do that. I applaud your bravery and self-confidence though.

sneak 11y ago

The Verizon DSL install package CD-ROM used to install a new system root certificate, and that was many years ago.