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Comment by zx8080 | Hacker News Reader

> violent backlash

There's no backlash. Is there anyone stating to stop buying Google Ads? Moving to Firefox (since there's no else alternative non-Google-chromium-based browser out there)? Except the HN audience, if course.

There's no danger from "users" for Google. Because their users are huge enterprises paging billions for ads. Not us.

DRM is what banks love. Recently, there're several major banks' mobile apps in Singapore stopped working as they started scanning all apps installed on a device, and some they don't like (MS Authenticator, for instance; F-Droid, and any opensource apk from there, also any developers installed app). This is nightmare as mobile bank apps are a first class citizen now. Web just does not open without push dialog. Not sms otp anymore, but the app push dialog. The only way to handle it is to buy a cheapest android and install all bank apps there.

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> There's no backlash. Is there anyone stating to stop buying Google Ads? Moving to Firefox [...] ?

I've actually noticed and increased number of "this is it, I move to FF" posts, here and on Reddit. Since FF fixed their main performance problems, switching is not particularly burdensome anymore; and now the assumption that Google is "evil" has reached the same level of popularity that Microsoft used to have at the peak of their powers.

I think we're in a similar position as early-00s opensource: commercially fledgling, but establishing a solid mindstream in geek circles that will shape the future in unpredictable ways that are not favourable to Google.

Wait what? Do you have any further details about the f-droid and Ms auth? Damnit I'm going to have to do a PSA at work if this is true.

> DRM is what banks love.

> Recently, there're several major banks' mobile apps in Singapore stopped working as they started scanning all apps installed on a device, and some they don't like

This seriously triggers me. I can't even enable developer mode on my phone without these apps flipping out.

Banks in my country (Brazil) have a long standing tradition of doing this. Even on PCs they have these asinine "security plugins" for browsers. You literally cannot log into their systems without the goddamn thing installed. Not a single person managed to explain to me what they do, so years ago I was bored at work and tried my hand at reverse engineering the plugin to figure out why it made the computer so unusably slow.

I caught it intercepting every single network connection.

Didn't bother to check anything else. Just assumed it was phoning home with private information and started treating it like the malware it is from then on. Actually switched banks to one which didn't require this crap. These freaking banks think their "fraud prevention" justifies anything.

There's a package for this "banking security tool" in the Arch User Repository.

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/warsaw

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/warsaw-bin

Who the hell knows what this thing does nowadays? Maybe it doesn't monitor people anymore, it's been years and we even have a GDPR equivalent now. But I will never install it.

South Korea is the same. I knew Brazil were our only brothers in arms when it came to this hellscape but I was under the impression that unlike here, in Brazil over the last 5 years or so this had become a thing of the past and you don't have to deal with this crap anymore, making Korea unique in the world.

I take it this is not the case, and theyre still making you install malware?

Yes, it is completely a thing of the past for most if not all banks

If you're using a phone, maybe. If you're using a desktop computer, you still have to install that malware.

What's the country mentioned above with the mandatory bank security plugins?

Brazil.

Check this out. They even have a Linux support page, complete with screenshots depicting it running as root.

https://seg.bb.com.br/duvidas.html?question=10

https://seg.bb.com.br/img/faq/linux/verificar_modulo2.png

I looked it up the package I posted above and found a gist with the unpacked contents:

https://gist.github.com/fititnt/8d94b0574c6a4ec7e8c4088c6474...

Literally asks for your root password, downloads some proprietary software off the internet and runs them without even computing checksums or anything.

Corporation that made this thing is owned by Diebold, the corporation that made our voting machines. Bone chilling.

> Corporation that made this thing is owned by Diebold, the corporation that made our voting machines. Bone chilling.

Right, let me just put my tin foil hat.

It's hilarious how some people's stance on voting machines did a 180 after the 2020 elections (or at least, all the pro voting machine people started coming out of the woodwork). Politics really is the mind-killer

I remember when Diebold were Dick Cheney's personal election-riggers in 2004, although it seemed like a bad long-term plan since the plan was always for Bush to cancel elections in 2008, but I guess quarterly earnings are king.

It won't help.

> There's no backlash.

Why did they roll it back, then?

I moved to Firefox. This nonsense was the final straw on that.

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