5 ms·

They will most likely be scammed into downloading spyware.

danieldk 8y ago
Which is a valuable lesson - a lesson in learning to be a rational, critical, grown-up human being. Or we could educate them and it might never happen. Also, let's not forget that many closed system are spyware already. Many of us became deeply involved in tech because some person (thanks Pat Volkerding!) or organization gave us a system were we could do whatever the hell we wanted.
- orf 8y ago
  > Which is a valuable lesson - a lesson in learning to be a rational, critical, grown-up human being. Well... you can phrase it like some life lesson, sure. In reality 1% of 3 million kids clicking on 'Free vbux!!' and converting is 30,000 kids having malware ridden phones, doing god knows what to god knows who. Is increasing the profits of malware distributors by so much really worth some hand-wavy "teach kids to become a grown up" lesson? Also, it's not just the kids. By any margin.
  - danieldk 8y ago
    In reality 1% of 3 million kids clicking on 'Free vbux!!' and converting is 30,000 kids having malware ridden phones, doing god knows what to god knows who. Well, most of those kids will run outdated Android versions with many known vulnerabilities. And they cannot update their phones, because they have locked firmware and walled-garden OS, largely put in place to make them buy new phones. Again, the proper solution beyond a good security baseline is to educate people.
    - orf 8y ago
      > Again, the proper solution beyond a good security baseline is to educate people. "The beatings will continue until your security improves!"
    - binomialxenon 8y ago
      > ...they cannot update their phones, because they have locked firmware and walled-garden OS, largely put in place to make them buy new phones. This is one of the biggest problems with the mobile landscape, with Apple, Google, and OEMs culpable to various degrees. It's deeply unethical, selfish, and wasteful.
  - im3w1l 8y ago
    I'd rather my kids get a few bruises than be slaves to The Man.
- naravara 8y ago
  >Many of us became deeply involved in tech because some person (thanks Pat Volkerding!) or organization gave us a system were we could do whatever the hell we wanted. Surely you can understand why letting people do whatever the hell they want might not be the best thing when people's personal and financial data is on the line.
  - danieldk 8y ago
    Surely you can understand why letting people do whatever the hell they want might As a default no. But there should always be an option (with appropriate warnings) to do with your device what you want to do with it. might not be the best thing when people's personal and financial data is on the line. Even on a walled garden device people will open phishing mails and log in to phishing websites. There will always be attack vectors. Beyond a reasonable baseline in security (sandboxing between applications, etc.), the most important thing to do is to educate people on proper security practices.
  - nradov 8y ago
    The burned hand teaches best.
- stale2002 8y ago
  Yeah, agreed. A lot of computer knowledge comes from trying something, failing, and then learning how to recover. I learned a lot from bricking my laptop in my early teens downloading roms and warez, and then understanding whats safe and what's not, and with little long term consequences.
MiddleEndian 8y ago
Having grown up in the time of Windows being very malware-heavy, it was not the children getting scammed. And much of the bad behavior, such as simple apps bombarding people with ads, is standard in programs found in mobile app stores now anyway.
xxs 8y ago
Darn, this is really "think of the kids" all over. You don't need to download spyware with virtually any mobile phone, pretty much everyone out there is doing already(recent ref: google maps)
- yurishimo 8y ago
  I think Google Maps is in a different league when we're talking about actual spyware that means to do you harm. Google just wants to track your location, while this other crap will spam you phone calls and try to brick your phone for money. I'm all for more freedoms when installing apps, but Google Maps isn't the same as this other shit.
- MiddleEndian 8y ago
  Think of the kids has always been an excuse to restrict people.

Which is a valuable lesson - a lesson in learning to be a rational, critical, grown-up human being. Or we could educate them and it might never happen. Also, let's not forget that many closed system are spyware already. Many of us became deeply involved in tech because some person (thanks Pat Volkerding!) or organization gave us a system were we could do whatever the hell we wanted.

orf 8y ago
> Which is a valuable lesson - a lesson in learning to be a rational, critical, grown-up human being. Well... you can phrase it like some life lesson, sure. In reality 1% of 3 million kids clicking on 'Free vbux!!' and converting is 30,000 kids having malware ridden phones, doing god knows what to god knows who. Is increasing the profits of malware distributors by so much really worth some hand-wavy "teach kids to become a grown up" lesson? Also, it's not just the kids. By any margin.
- danieldk 8y ago
  In reality 1% of 3 million kids clicking on 'Free vbux!!' and converting is 30,000 kids having malware ridden phones, doing god knows what to god knows who. Well, most of those kids will run outdated Android versions with many known vulnerabilities. And they cannot update their phones, because they have locked firmware and walled-garden OS, largely put in place to make them buy new phones. Again, the proper solution beyond a good security baseline is to educate people.
  - orf 8y ago
    > Again, the proper solution beyond a good security baseline is to educate people. "The beatings will continue until your security improves!"
  - binomialxenon 8y ago
    > ...they cannot update their phones, because they have locked firmware and walled-garden OS, largely put in place to make them buy new phones. This is one of the biggest problems with the mobile landscape, with Apple, Google, and OEMs culpable to various degrees. It's deeply unethical, selfish, and wasteful.
- im3w1l 8y ago
  I'd rather my kids get a few bruises than be slaves to The Man.
naravara 8y ago
>Many of us became deeply involved in tech because some person (thanks Pat Volkerding!) or organization gave us a system were we could do whatever the hell we wanted. Surely you can understand why letting people do whatever the hell they want might not be the best thing when people's personal and financial data is on the line.
- danieldk 8y ago
  Surely you can understand why letting people do whatever the hell they want might As a default no. But there should always be an option (with appropriate warnings) to do with your device what you want to do with it. might not be the best thing when people's personal and financial data is on the line. Even on a walled garden device people will open phishing mails and log in to phishing websites. There will always be attack vectors. Beyond a reasonable baseline in security (sandboxing between applications, etc.), the most important thing to do is to educate people on proper security practices.
- nradov 8y ago
  The burned hand teaches best.
stale2002 8y ago
Yeah, agreed. A lot of computer knowledge comes from trying something, failing, and then learning how to recover. I learned a lot from bricking my laptop in my early teens downloading roms and warez, and then understanding whats safe and what's not, and with little long term consequences.

MiddleEndian 8y ago

Having grown up in the time of Windows being very malware-heavy, it was not the children getting scammed. And much of the bad behavior, such as simple apps bombarding people with ads, is standard in programs found in mobile app stores now anyway.

xxs 8y ago

Darn, this is really "think of the kids" all over. You don't need to download spyware with virtually any mobile phone, pretty much everyone out there is doing already(recent ref: google maps)

yurishimo 8y ago
I think Google Maps is in a different league when we're talking about actual spyware that means to do you harm. Google just wants to track your location, while this other crap will spam you phone calls and try to brick your phone for money. I'm all for more freedoms when installing apps, but Google Maps isn't the same as this other shit.
MiddleEndian 8y ago
Think of the kids has always been an excuse to restrict people.