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I'm curious what happens if you use a phone that's incompatible with the app. Do you get a free pass, or is China going to only allow the use of compatible devi

by wtracy 8y ago

I'm curious what happens if you use a phone that's incompatible with the app. Do you get a free pass, or is China going to only allow the use of compatible devices?

lozaning 8y ago
I thank my lucky stars everyday that Samsung has still yet to figure out how to port their security rootkit to OSX. Getting into and out of Digital City is already horrendous enough as it as, I dont need software spying on me forever until I format my machine.
- slig 8y ago
  Since there are (were?) virus that can survive a HD format, I wouldn't trust a simple format against a state agency spyware.
  - lozaning 8y ago
    I should have been more clear. If you want to get into most any Samsung building in the world and especially their global HQ in Suwoon they make you install their security shit on any Windows laptops you've got. It blocks USB ports, prevents you from connecting to anything but corporate wifi, and disables any cameras amongst other things. Once your business with samsung is done you can email someone (And I think it's literally only 1 guy for all of global samsung) and in a couple weeks they'll email you a one time code tied to some kinda hardware ID that you can use to uninstall the software from your machine. I've got no reason to believe that Samsung is in kahoots with a nation state for any nefarious spying, I just resent being treated as a would be criminal. That being said if you visit a Samsung office in China, just bring burner tech and throw it away before coming back.
    - gruez 8y ago
      >Once your business with samsung is done you can email someone (And I think it's literally only 1 guy for all of global samsung) and in a couple weeks they'll email you a one time code tied to some kinda hardware ID that you can use to uninstall the software from your machine ...or restore a full disk backup? actually, come to think of it, what's preventing you from playing along and installing their security rootkit, then reimage/reinstall os/swap hdd/switch boot partition once you get in? unless they can overwrite your computer's firmware and prevent it fro. being modified, its trivial to remove the rootkit.
      - edejong 8y ago
        If rootkits stay on HDDs, yes. But they don’t. There are hundreds of firmware locations on a machine. Many of them are known to be hackable. So it isn’t unthinkable that a wipe of a HDD will not be sufficient to thwart a state level actor.
        yalok 8y ago
        I came to a Samsung office in Suwong with a MacBook. Wasn’t forced to install anything, but, in order to use their network and 3rd party exchange site, I did have to install that tool on my Win VM. Should have just made a snapshot of VM image before doing that, and then it’d be easy to roll back. I was more shocked by airport-style scanning security at the entrance and exit, forcing everyone to seal usb drives and phone cameras.
        lozaning 8y ago
        They also run active countermeasures, like deauthing any SSID that isnt one of their own, so no hotspoting. Gotta do it over Bluetooth or a USB cable. If you find yourself there again make sure to ask whoever is hosting you for VIP status. Supposed to only be Director and above, but it's an absolute game changer as far as the hassle getting in and out every day and I've managed to get it a time or two.
      - lozaning 8y ago
        Literally nothing, it's all 100% security theater for anyone thats takes a minute to think through attack vectors. The only technology they make you declare while entering into the building/campus is the technology you want to take out. So to exfiltrate data all you'd need to do is buy a burner phone, not declare it when entering, acquire whatever data you're stealing, use the burner to email it to to yourself or w/e, then just ditch the phone before you go back out through security. There are body scanners and x-ray machines checking people, but only going out, not in.
  - xfitm3 8y ago
    Firmware backdoors are alive and well.
- SSLy 8y ago
  Which software from Samsung are you referring to?

by wtracy 8y ago

I'm curious what happens if you use a phone that's incompatible with the app. Do you get a free pass, or is China going to only allow the use of compatible devices?

lozaning 8y ago

I thank my lucky stars everyday that Samsung has still yet to figure out how to port their security rootkit to OSX. Getting into and out of Digital City is already horrendous enough as it as, I dont need software spying on me forever until I format my machine.

slig 8y ago
Since there are (were?) virus that can survive a HD format, I wouldn't trust a simple format against a state agency spyware.
- lozaning 8y ago
  I should have been more clear. If you want to get into most any Samsung building in the world and especially their global HQ in Suwoon they make you install their security shit on any Windows laptops you've got. It blocks USB ports, prevents you from connecting to anything but corporate wifi, and disables any cameras amongst other things. Once your business with samsung is done you can email someone (And I think it's literally only 1 guy for all of global samsung) and in a couple weeks they'll email you a one time code tied to some kinda hardware ID that you can use to uninstall the software from your machine. I've got no reason to believe that Samsung is in kahoots with a nation state for any nefarious spying, I just resent being treated as a would be criminal. That being said if you visit a Samsung office in China, just bring burner tech and throw it away before coming back.
  - gruez 8y ago
    >Once your business with samsung is done you can email someone (And I think it's literally only 1 guy for all of global samsung) and in a couple weeks they'll email you a one time code tied to some kinda hardware ID that you can use to uninstall the software from your machine ...or restore a full disk backup? actually, come to think of it, what's preventing you from playing along and installing their security rootkit, then reimage/reinstall os/swap hdd/switch boot partition once you get in? unless they can overwrite your computer's firmware and prevent it fro. being modified, its trivial to remove the rootkit.
    - edejong 8y ago
      If rootkits stay on HDDs, yes. But they don’t. There are hundreds of firmware locations on a machine. Many of them are known to be hackable. So it isn’t unthinkable that a wipe of a HDD will not be sufficient to thwart a state level actor.
      - yalok 8y ago
        I came to a Samsung office in Suwong with a MacBook. Wasn’t forced to install anything, but, in order to use their network and 3rd party exchange site, I did have to install that tool on my Win VM. Should have just made a snapshot of VM image before doing that, and then it’d be easy to roll back. I was more shocked by airport-style scanning security at the entrance and exit, forcing everyone to seal usb drives and phone cameras.
        lozaning 8y ago
        They also run active countermeasures, like deauthing any SSID that isnt one of their own, so no hotspoting. Gotta do it over Bluetooth or a USB cable. If you find yourself there again make sure to ask whoever is hosting you for VIP status. Supposed to only be Director and above, but it's an absolute game changer as far as the hassle getting in and out every day and I've managed to get it a time or two.
    - lozaning 8y ago
      Literally nothing, it's all 100% security theater for anyone thats takes a minute to think through attack vectors. The only technology they make you declare while entering into the building/campus is the technology you want to take out. So to exfiltrate data all you'd need to do is buy a burner phone, not declare it when entering, acquire whatever data you're stealing, use the burner to email it to to yourself or w/e, then just ditch the phone before you go back out through security. There are body scanners and x-ray machines checking people, but only going out, not in.
- xfitm3 8y ago
  Firmware backdoors are alive and well.
SSLy 8y ago
Which software from Samsung are you referring to?