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Yeah, national stupidity works by giving ridiculous power to tech illiterate people that don't even know how Android and iOS sandboxes and permissions work.

krn 6y ago
Are you arguing that the national intelligence agencies of the US are incapable to properly assess technical national security risks? Or that it is completely impossible that any widely distributed proprietary software developed in China could pose any national security risks?
- hackernewsconvo 6y ago
  I think they're arguing that on modern iOS and android the application sandboxing and permissions make a lot of the data collection described improbable/impossible.
  - krn 6y ago
    There is a huge difference between "improbable" and "impossible" here. Was it highly improbable that Saudi crown prince could hack into Bezos's iPhone? Yes, it was. Nevertheless, that's exactly what happened[1]. Now imagine what Chinese government could do with TikTok. Also, application sandboxing and permissions can mean nothing at all[2]: > A billion or more Android devices are vulnerable to hacks that can turn them into spying tools by exploiting more than 400 vulnerabilities in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip, researchers reported this week. > The vulnerabilities can be exploited when a target downloads a video or other content that’s rendered by the chip. Targets can also be attacked by installing malicious apps that require no permissions at all. > From there, attackers can monitor locations and listen to nearby audio in real time and exfiltrate photos and videos. Exploits also make it possible to render the phone completely unresponsive. Infections can be hidden from the operating system in a way that makes disinfecting difficult. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/technology/jeff-bezos-hack-iphone.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/technology/jeff-bezos-hac... [2] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/snapdragon-chip-flaws-put-1-billion-android-phones-at-risk-of-data-theft/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/snapd...

krn 6y ago

Are you arguing that the national intelligence agencies of the US are incapable to properly assess technical national security risks? Or that it is completely impossible that any widely distributed proprietary software developed in China could pose any national security risks?

hackernewsconvo 6y ago
I think they're arguing that on modern iOS and android the application sandboxing and permissions make a lot of the data collection described improbable/impossible.
- krn 6y ago
  There is a huge difference between "improbable" and "impossible" here. Was it highly improbable that Saudi crown prince could hack into Bezos's iPhone? Yes, it was. Nevertheless, that's exactly what happened[1]. Now imagine what Chinese government could do with TikTok. Also, application sandboxing and permissions can mean nothing at all[2]: > A billion or more Android devices are vulnerable to hacks that can turn them into spying tools by exploiting more than 400 vulnerabilities in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip, researchers reported this week. > The vulnerabilities can be exploited when a target downloads a video or other content that’s rendered by the chip. Targets can also be attacked by installing malicious apps that require no permissions at all. > From there, attackers can monitor locations and listen to nearby audio in real time and exfiltrate photos and videos. Exploits also make it possible to render the phone completely unresponsive. Infections can be hidden from the operating system in a way that makes disinfecting difficult. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/technology/jeff-bezos-hack-iphone.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/technology/jeff-bezos-hac... [2] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/snapdragon-chip-flaws-put-1-billion-android-phones-at-risk-of-data-theft/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/snapd...