I mean, both things can be true? I know banks are pushing on Google to improve Android security, to avoid malicious apps with root access from messing with banking apps.
The fact is that a rooted phone can definitely be less secure if the user doesn’t 100% know what they’re doing, in the same way that always logging in as root on a Linux system can be.
I know banks are pushing on Google to improve Android security, to avoid malicious apps with root access from messing with banking apps.
How do you know this? Do you have a link to a source that says it?
I’ve tried (not especially hard) to find sources in the past citing actual incidents where end-user devices running non-stock Android or with root access led to bank fraud or data breaches. I didn’t find anything to suggest that’s a problem in the real world.
The main malware problems I have seen reported for Android are:
Malware in the Play Store. This is the only way I’ve seen Android malware in the wild, on a family member’s device.
Zero-click exploits. The best prevention for these is an up-to-date OS. On an older device, that means a third-party build that won’t pass Google’s checks.
Thanks for the (partial) citation. That’s enough for me to believe someone important outside Google actually believes there’s a security concern rather than Google just using it as an excuse to be controlling.
That doesn’t mean I actually accept the concern as legitimate. I’d find a postmortem of a real data breach where that was a factor at least a bit persuasive, and there are enough countries with disclosure laws I’m inclined to think there would be some if it was a problem in reality.
Configuring one’s system to always login as root in Linux is significantly easier than rooting an Android phone. One needs to know their way to root their phone and spend significant amount of time tinkering with it so that everything works properly.
As for malicious apps, there are many such apps on the Play Store as well. In fact, I would argue that the safest distribution channel is F Droid and not Play Store.
I can’t speak for foreign banks but for banks in my country, they have a problem that is way way worse than any Android stuff can solve ( read: giving access to your account only via SINGLE password and only asking for SMS OTP when transaction is done; and of course no hardware key support). I don’t wish my banking data to be less secure than a WordPress account!
In fact, I would argue that the safest distribution channel is F Droid and not Play Store.
I agree with this too! I don’t think I’ve seen any other app stores (on any platform) focus on reproducible builds.
giving access to your account only via SINGLE password and only asking for SMS OTP when transaction is done
This was a problem with US and Australian banks too. It’s still an issue in Australia, but some of the major banks in the USA have moved to sending 2FA requests to their mobile app, and either allowing OAuth or app-specific passwords to allow other services to get data from your bank account.
I don’t think that’s true. They could both be aims, but one would be secondary (or at least not primary).
I don’t think they’re both true at all though. I don’t believe for a second the risk posed by/to users invested enough to root their phones is high enough to warrant this nonsense. The cynical/profitable explanation seems a whole lot more likely, imo.
I mean, both things can be true? I know banks are pushing on Google to improve Android security, to avoid malicious apps with root access from messing with banking apps.
The fact is that a rooted phone can definitely be less secure if the user doesn’t 100% know what they’re doing, in the same way that always logging in as root on a Linux system can be.
How do you know this? Do you have a link to a source that says it?
I’ve tried (not especially hard) to find sources in the past citing actual incidents where end-user devices running non-stock Android or with root access led to bank fraud or data breaches. I didn’t find anything to suggest that’s a problem in the real world.
The main malware problems I have seen reported for Android are:
From a friend that works at a big bank. I don’t want to dox then so I can’t really say which one.
Thanks for the (partial) citation. That’s enough for me to believe someone important outside Google actually believes there’s a security concern rather than Google just using it as an excuse to be controlling.
That doesn’t mean I actually accept the concern as legitimate. I’d find a postmortem of a real data breach where that was a factor at least a bit persuasive, and there are enough countries with disclosure laws I’m inclined to think there would be some if it was a problem in reality.
GrapheneOS is more secure than Google stock.
I don’t disagree with this. Maybe I should get a phone that runs it.
Configuring one’s system to always login as root in Linux is significantly easier than rooting an Android phone. One needs to know their way to root their phone and spend significant amount of time tinkering with it so that everything works properly.
As for malicious apps, there are many such apps on the Play Store as well. In fact, I would argue that the safest distribution channel is F Droid and not Play Store.
I can’t speak for foreign banks but for banks in my country, they have a problem that is way way worse than any Android stuff can solve ( read: giving access to your account only via SINGLE password and only asking for SMS OTP when transaction is done; and of course no hardware key support). I don’t wish my banking data to be less secure than a WordPress account!
relevant xkcd
Should browser startups be authenticated by biometrics?
I agree with this too! I don’t think I’ve seen any other app stores (on any platform) focus on reproducible builds.
This was a problem with US and Australian banks too. It’s still an issue in Australia, but some of the major banks in the USA have moved to sending 2FA requests to their mobile app, and either allowing OAuth or app-specific passwords to allow other services to get data from your bank account.
I don’t think that’s true. They could both be aims, but one would be secondary (or at least not primary).
I don’t think they’re both true at all though. I don’t believe for a second the risk posed by/to users invested enough to root their phones is high enough to warrant this nonsense. The cynical/profitable explanation seems a whole lot more likely, imo.