Next time I look for a small laptop to have handy one thing I’m going to be sure to prioritise is: how much battery does it use while suspended? I’d really like to not need to have it switch to hibernate after 30m of sleep or w/e and ideally just plug it in overnight like a phone.
I have been working on my scripts for user/group permissions today. This idea has been on my back burner for awhile. I’m sure others have done this before. I just haven’t encountered them yet....
Thanks, that’s encouraging and very relevant. Looks like it was introduced in Android 10 and aside from “Project Mainline” is referred to as “modular system components”: source.android.com/docs/core/ota/modular-system
Can you shed more light on what someone would be risking by continuing to use an EOL device? You say you don’t advise it, but it’d be helpful to elaborate on why.
It seems like the increased vulnerability would be relatively limited: I presume the browser and messaging are by far the most common vectors and those would be as up to date as ever but I can see how exploiting an unpatched vuln there on an unsupported device could have more impact as it would give more options for privilege escalation.
Otherwise it’d be something RF based. Aside from widely publicised things like BlueBorne (that we should be keeping an eye out for anyway), is it a reasonable concern that there are identify theft rings employing people with modified hardware wandering around subway systems trying to exfiltrate credentials from devices with specific vulnerable basebands? Seems like Android also offers some defence in depth there that’d make it unlikely enough to ensure it wouldn’t be worth their while?
There are a few technologically disinterested people in my life that I advise (as is no doubt the case for many here) and I don’t know how strongly to push for them to get new devices once theirs fall out of support. Most of them are quite content with what they’re using and are not in the habit of installing apps (and will reliably ask me first) so they really would be replacing the device solely for the updates. In some cases it’s not only the time and effort to decide on a replacement and get things transferred over but the expense can also be a burden. So I don’t want to raise the alarm lightly.
I don’t think they are things that can be fixed on the app level?
Indeed not. So I’m trying to better understand how vulnerabilities at the system level are exploited. It seems like the attack surface is limited to RF (bluetooth/wifi can be turned off if one is willing to make that compromise), app install (many just use a small selection of well-trusted apps), and messaging/browser which are regularly updated if the device is properly configured.
Based on this thread I’m beginning to form the opinion that it is not unreasonably foolhardy for someone to continue to use an unsupported device if they are willing to make the compromises necessary to limit their attack surface.
Really appreciate you taking the time to write that. I have a sense of most of that (“defense in depth” and “threat model” are good lenses to think about such things through for sure!) but what I was trying to get a better grasp on was how much risk from automated attack was a normal person without worries of an “advanced persistent threat” taking on by using a device past EOL. Like you say, “Quantifying how much of a difference it makes is not trivial” so I feel less conflicted to know that you’re comfortable with your dad taking that risk.
I would think that the main thing at stake for a typical user isn’t just browsing history or email though but rather identity theft since a successful attacker can use the device to get through 2FA.
The app, in the scenario where we’re trusting the author/store, is only part of the surface to the extent it’s exposed to a potentially malicious payload. eg. a trusted solitaire game using a vulnerable API doesn’t exacerbate that vulnerability because it doesn’t expose it to untrusted input whereas a PDF viewer would because the PDF could be coming from anywhere…
I’ve enjoyed runbox.com for years but don’t think they offer catch-all, at least not when I last checked. You might look at mxroute.com, I heard about it later and might have gone with them first and they somehow seem more likely to support that
Aren’t you sorta trusting whoever wrote any package you install with root? I mean, you should have that attitude anyhow as packages have a huge attack surface so privilege escalation bugs are way more common than remote execution but still, flatpak and snap at least offer a bit of a sandbox which might improve…
Allied Properties sale of their data centre portfolio to KDDI includes 151 Front Street W., the site of TorIX which is the main Internet Exchange Point for the country. While that’s not necessarily an issue, I kinda figured it was at least a little bit notable but I’ve not seen it mentioned aside from an investment context....
Why North America Can't Build Nice Apartments [Video, 12:09] (www.youtube.com)
Laptop with long runtime
I’m looking to buy a new laptop. I recently switched to Linux (Fedora) and would like to stay with it (Not necessarily Fedora though)....
Should I renew my liberapay donations?
Apparently, while it’s closed for new donations, liberapay is still going to renew existing ones.
Self-hosted habit tracker
Hi self-hosters. I am looking into personal habit trackers that I can self-host. So far, I have looked at the following:...
Anyone know of a reverse command script or package to parse args for flags, expand them, and condense a man or help page(s) to just the relevant flags?
I have been working on my scripts for user/group permissions today. This idea has been on my back burner for awhile. I’m sure others have done this before. I just haven’t encountered them yet....
Better understanding and mitigating the risks of using a phone that no longer receives system updates
Too many perfectly usable phones are put into a questionable security situation by lack of vendor support for keeping key software up to date....
Best alternative to selfhosting email? E.g. email hosting provider for a custom domain
Hey guys,...
Ubuntu 23.10’s New Software App Will Demote DEBs (Apparently) (www.omgubuntu.co.uk)
A new ‘app store’ is expected to ship as part of Ubuntu 23.10 when it’s released in October — and it’ll debut with a notable change to DEB support.
A key part of Canada's Internet was just sold to Japanese telco KDDI (money.tmx.com)
Allied Properties sale of their data centre portfolio to KDDI includes 151 Front Street W., the site of TorIX which is the main Internet Exchange Point for the country. While that’s not necessarily an issue, I kinda figured it was at least a little bit notable but I’ve not seen it mentioned aside from an investment context....