News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals by Apocryphon on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @07:21PM (#37667255)
Well, given that mobile is a much newer platform, and a lot more regulatory scrutiny than desktop, perhaps the itchy regulators at the EU and the current FTC might be predisposed to go after those companies, especially since most of them are already in their crosshairs for other misdeeds. I don't think regulators are going to be asleep at the wheel and just let Meta force users to use a Facebook store stuffed with trackers.

Not to mention, what if Apple still exerted influence over alternative app stores by providing the SDK and certified security/privacy standards for them to build them?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37667144

Re:EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals by LeoNatan25 on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @07:57PM (#37667632)
Facebook’s shady coding in the past was all using sanctioned APIs, including the VPN it was using to spy on teens. With a private store also goes the static analysis of private API usage, which can enable software some looser restrictions (but not much, as some fear—most stuff is protected for at the kernel level).
Re:EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals by Apocryphon on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @08:00PM (#37667676)
Maybe static analysis can be imposed at the OS level, like macOS notarization?

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/notarizin...

I don't think the regulators are going to mandate that Apple not retain any consumer-protecting mechanisms.

Re:EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals by LeoNatan25 on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @08:09PM (#37667769)
See my comment here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37667740

Static analysis is very easy to be fooled. iOS security comes from its kernel enforcement by means of entitlements, which you can’t easily break.

Re:EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals by Apocryphon on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @08:14PM (#37667831)
Given that it’s already present in App Store apps as you say would show that the App Store itself, and perhaps the current app review process, is insufficient!
Re:EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals by LeoNatan25 on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @08:32PM (#37668015)
I don’t know. It’s a cat and mouse game, and you can only win in such games if you don’t play. By moving the security from static analysis to kernel, Apple has sidestepped most malicious API mishaps. My project isn’t malicious, it just uses API not as intended, but it can do little malice in wrong hands. I think this is a good system overall.