One of the main advantages of the Android OS is its openness - users can choose their own default launchers and applications. Many are also attracted by the ability to obtain superuser rights on Android devices and install their own firmware versions. However, users may soon lose it, as Google intends to strengthen the security of its mobile OS.
The process of obtaining superuser rights on an Android device involves exploiting vulnerabilities. To install custom firmware, you need to unlock the OS bootloader, which is supported (but not recommended) by some electronics manufacturers, in particular Sony. However, the latest version of Google's SafetyNet will treat this as a hack.
SafetyNet is a set of APIs that allow applications to check a device for compromise. SafetyNet is vital for banking and finance software, but other applications (such as Pokemon GO and McDonald's) use it as well. In the past, frameworks for gaining root permissions on an Android device like Magisk could use the same APIs to "convince" applications that the smartphone hadn't been jailbroken. However, with the new version of SafetyNet, they have lost this opportunity.
According to developers at XDA Developers, SafetyNet has become discreetly authenticated hardware in order to verify the integrity of the device. In particular, the status of unlocking the bootloader is checked, the presence of software on the device for obtaining superuser rights and signed firmware, etc. In other words, with the updated SafetyNet, it is almost impossible to hide the fact of hacking the device from applications.
It is worth noting that it is still possible to obtain superuser rights and install customized firmware. However, in this case, applications accessing SafetyNet will stop working, and users will have to choose which is more important to them - superuser rights or work with key applications.
