Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

The neat thing here is that we don’t have to make uninformed speculation about this, we can just look at how it worked in the past. Anyone who did family tech support in the 2000s knew that every family visit involved removing all of the malware their relatives had installed – ESPECIALLY the ones who “knew” what they are doing! – and it was even odds that you’d see stuff like that on computers at businesses, libraries, banks, etc. All you had to do was say it’d improve system performance, give them free coupons or porn, and they’d trip over themselves to install it. This is why iPads and ChromeOS devices became so popular because everyone who actually knows how to use a computer safely knows people who say they do but absolutely do not.

It’s also important to learn how the modern abuse industry works. Since the 2000s, malware has grown into a multi-billion dollar highly professional industry used by governments around the world and the scammers have professionalized as well. You should look at some of the YouTube videos of scammers social engineering people into giving them remote access, approving bank MFA challenges, or talking them into making cryptocurrency purchases - and while we might sneer and say they’re uneducated or careless, most of them are distracted or old, just like most of us will be some day. If there’s a prompt, millions of people will approve it and if it means their device can no longer be trusted that’s a lot of money and e-waste.

I don’t like any of this. I want to have root on every device because I grew up with unfettered PCs (first installed Linux .9 using a disk editor, etc. etc.) but the landscape has changed since then. We can’t pretend otherwise, but we could call for regulation to balance the interests of owners and device manufacturers just as we allow people to customize their cars without giving up the concept of safety or emissions testing.