4 ms·
Native apps had a head start: they don't load every asset from a potentially untrusted source. I would say that the browser most certainly has the biggest atta
by bjoli 9y ago
Native apps had a head start: they don't load every asset from a potentially untrusted source.
I would say that the browser most certainly has the biggest attack surface of any software in regular use. Your average browser is insanely complex. In fact, it is the only piece of software on my computer that scares me.
Multiple JITs, font rendering, parsing, layouts, compression, image handling, sound and of course about a billion edge cases because somewhere along the road we decided that faulty code is OK. Everything with tonnes of state that interact in ways that can't ever be fully tested or verified (because of an almost infinite variety). Let's also not forget that a large part of that is done at the very bleeding edge of CS research. I wouldn't trust anyone to do that in a safe way.
To me, a kernel seems simple in comparison.
- pjc50 9y ago> Native apps had a head start: they don't load every asset from a potentially untrusted source The whole native app is "untrusted" at the point of install. Even an app store offers a fairly thin guarantee about what apps are actually doing. It's far easier and less risky to open a web page and start doing something than install a native app.
- jjnoakes 9y agoI only think this applies to certain ecosystems (ones where the motivation or incentive to provide the software doesn't align with ensuring user's safety or security). The native apps I run on my Linux laptop, for example, I trust quite a bit. There may be a way for someone to sneak in some obfuscated code that does some harm, but I think the risks are much lower than many of the alternatives.
- bjoli 9y agoYes and no. Trust on first use is a thing. A web page is trust every time. Sandboxing of native apps are getting easier by the minute , at least for Linux. Flatpack and snappy aren't there yet,though...
- collinmanderson 9y ago> biggest attack surface Sure, but in many modern browsers there's also a OS sandbox around it, so there's two layers of protection.