News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Ask HN: Real risk of using an unpatched phone by ActorNightly on Sunday November 19, 2023 @04:28AM (#38330848)
There aren't really any big exploits anymore that one can target en masse. Most of the exploits that do pop up require not only extremely specific targeting, but also pretty hardcore engineering to actually to stuff with the exploit. To get from something like a double free to a shell isn't exactly straightforward (and in some cases, not even possible).

Ironically enough, even though they are still VERY rare, I believe that fully remote exploits for Apple pop up at a higher frequency, because of how intricately their apps tie into the OS of the phone for performance reasons. Over the years, I seem to remember reading more about them on Project Zero than

Re:Ask HN: Real risk of using an unpatched phone by warner25 on Sunday November 19, 2023 @10:52AM (#38333743)
I suspect that Apple iOS users are also much more lucrative targets. The Android user base is bigger worldwide, but not in the US and especially not among the affluent and public figures.

Come after Android and you're coming after people like me who have an old $200 budget phone, a $5 per month data plan, and don't even use it for things like banking or mobile payments.

Re:Ask HN: Real risk of using an unpatched phone by osdril on Tuesday November 21, 2023 @03:43AM (#38361046)
That's reassuring to hear, thank you