3 ms·

I just don't see many supposed grandma's (or prey people) make tweaks or go out and seek software outside of the playstore. The only reason my dad uses Newpipe

I just don't see many supposed grandma's (or prey people) make tweaks or go out and seek software outside of the playstore. The only reason my dad uses Newpipe is because of me. Someone knowledgeable has to introduce it to them. The most adventurous thing these people will do on their own is download apps on the playstore by themselves and sign in their app.

ralph84 3y ago
Until grandma gets a call from a nice gentleman at “Google tech support” who walks her through the process.
- cogman10 3y ago
  Or a nice popup informing her that her phone is infected with 1 billion viruses and she needs AV software right this minute.
  - wesapien 3y ago
    If they take the bait, them warning signs are useless. You're giving a novice a choice between removing the viruses on their phone and the dangers of installing third party software. Do you think the prey will be like: wait a minute, I see what this malware is doing? Ha! lmao
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      iOS also has the ability to trick users into downloading virus protectors. But they really can’t do much harm
      - twism 3y ago
        that's because you are downloading from the apple app store ... try jailbreaking your iPhone and keep installing random things from cydia. Pwnage awaits
        scarface_74 3y ago
        Doesn’t that kind of make the point why app stores and a good sandbox are fair trade offs?
- wesapien 3y ago
  If the mark/prey believes they are talking to a legitimate tech support person, their mostly screwed. The warning sign isn't there to stop a con artist or social engineering.
  - wepple 3y ago
    How would this type of attack work on an android that is locked to play store? I guess you could use a web phishing page, but you couldn’t remote access their device. Maybe you could get a malicious data capture app into the play store that simply collects data, but it would eventually get banned
    - g-b-r 3y ago
      If the aim is to have grandma download a malicious app, you direct her to download one of the countless malicious apps that find their way to the play store.
scarface_74 3y ago
And my mom who is 80 and is somewhat computer literate - she is a retired school teacher who used our Apple //e with AppleWorks back in the 80s and has had multiple fairly up to date computers since then. She went to download a printer driver and she went on a website that had crapware. It’s not just the shady websites. CNET (download.com) and whatever company use to own Slashdot use to bundle Firefox with crapware.

ralph84 3y ago

Until grandma gets a call from a nice gentleman at “Google tech support” who walks her through the process.

cogman10 3y ago
Or a nice popup informing her that her phone is infected with 1 billion viruses and she needs AV software right this minute.
- wesapien 3y ago
  If they take the bait, them warning signs are useless. You're giving a novice a choice between removing the viruses on their phone and the dangers of installing third party software. Do you think the prey will be like: wait a minute, I see what this malware is doing? Ha! lmao
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    iOS also has the ability to trick users into downloading virus protectors. But they really can’t do much harm
    - twism 3y ago
      that's because you are downloading from the apple app store ... try jailbreaking your iPhone and keep installing random things from cydia. Pwnage awaits
      - scarface_74 3y ago
        Doesn’t that kind of make the point why app stores and a good sandbox are fair trade offs?
wesapien 3y ago
If the mark/prey believes they are talking to a legitimate tech support person, their mostly screwed. The warning sign isn't there to stop a con artist or social engineering.
- wepple 3y ago
  How would this type of attack work on an android that is locked to play store? I guess you could use a web phishing page, but you couldn’t remote access their device. Maybe you could get a malicious data capture app into the play store that simply collects data, but it would eventually get banned
  - g-b-r 3y ago
    If the aim is to have grandma download a malicious app, you direct her to download one of the countless malicious apps that find their way to the play store.

scarface_74 3y ago

And my mom who is 80 and is somewhat computer literate - she is a retired school teacher who used our Apple //e with AppleWorks back in the 80s and has had multiple fairly up to date computers since then. She went to download a printer driver and she went on a website that had crapware. It’s not just the shady websites. CNET (download.com) and whatever company use to own Slashdot use to bundle Firefox with crapware.