Thread

UK military jamming other nations' satellites to defend itself, BBC told

171 points · 213 comments · thm

autoexec · 1790188120 · focus · HN ↗
> Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said daily lives depend on satellites that power everyday technologies like mobile phones and banking apps, adding the loss of GPS would cost the UK economy £1.4bn a day.
Oh no! Not our precious banking apps! What a weird thing to call out specifically. It's also kind of strange to talk at such length about how critical satellites have become to people's lives, national economy, emergency services, and people's "daily freedoms", only to conclude with "So now we're using ground-based systems to take out the satellites other countries depend on for all of those things"
1. jameshart · 1790188448 · focus · HN ↗
  In a largely cashless society like the UK, ‘banking apps’ are effectively people’s wallets. Knowing you got paid, being able to pay your rent, being able to pay for goods and services… seem like pretty everyday concerns.
  1. autoexec · 1790189393 · focus · HN ↗
    All of that can be handed via your bank's website, ATMs, a credit card, or even (god forbid) writing a cheque.
    jameshart · 1790189783 · focus · HN ↗
    All of which (except the cheque, which we can ignore - nobody in the UK has a chequebook any more) depend on the same communication infrastructure that the app does.
    autoexec · 1790189954 · focus · HN ↗
    > All of which...depend on the same communication infrastructure that the app does.
    That being the internet, which in the vast majority of cases doesn't depend on satellites either. Wifi, fiber, coax, and copper would continue to work just fine.
    carlosjobim · 1790189805 · focus · HN ↗
    Do people write cheques in the UK?
    baliex · 1790190084 · focus · HN ↗
    No
    TedDoesntTalk · 1790190242 · focus · HN ↗
    Or checks?
    jameshart · 1790191457 · focus · HN ↗
    Certainly not spelt (or spelled) like that.
    autoexec · 1790190244 · focus · HN ↗
    There are several companies in the UK offering cheque cashing services so I presume somebody there is getting them.
    mcintyre1994 · 1790191664 · focus · HN ↗
    I’m in my early 30s and I don’t think I’ve ever written one. When I had my first bank account when I was maybe 10 I was given a cheque book, I don’t know where I’d get one now. I did recently receive a cheque for $12.99 or something like that from an Amazon settlement that I think is probably legitimate. Apparently Monzo can cash a cheque through their app so I’ll try that at some point. I’m guessing it won’t work with an international one though.
    autoexec · 1790192664 · focus · HN ↗
    > when I was maybe 10 I was given a cheque book, I don’t know where I’d get one now.
    I'm guessing you'd walk into your bank and ask for one. You can probably order one from their app somewhere.
    rebolek · 1790192763 · focus · HN ↗
    I’m older (not in UK, in EU) and cheques are something weird from old movies. Never seen one in real life and concept is really strange.
    dylan604 · 1790192813 · focus · HN ↗
    A couple of years ago during lockdown, I was working with someone definitely qualifying as a boomer, to start up an e-commerce site for him. He was proudly showing me his ledger book of checks that he had to shell out $200 to receive while declining a debit card. On a couple of occasions, I went with him to get cash by driving to a bank branch, writing a check, and having the teller cash it for him. It took months to convince him that he absolutely needed a debit card when people were constantly asking if they could use Venmo/CashApp/etc to pay for products.
    So we're still in a transitional stage where some people are still stuck on using checks.
    autoexec · 1790193675 · focus · HN ↗
    At least I see them being used less often in stores. Also how on earth was he paying $200 for checks? You can get them for < $15. Here's a book with a fish on it, and a ledger, and a cover for under $25 <a href="https://www.checks.com/p/856/wonders-of-the-sea-checks" rel="nofollow">https://www.checks.com/p/856/wonders-of-the-sea-checks
    esseph · 1790197013 · focus · HN ↗
    Check processing I think, not writing them
    dylan604 · 1790198426 · focus · HN ↗
    No, the ~$200 fee was for the book ledger and blank checks. I have no idea what kind of monthly fees the bank was charging for the account. He was also getting raked over the coals on his merchant account to process credit cards because it was deemed a high risk business so most reputable places would not accept the business.
    dylan604 · 1790197205 · focus · HN ↗
    Man, don't get me started. However, business accounts are more expensive than regular accounts. Also, why are you surprised that a bank has found a way to charge more fees?
    pixeljam · 1790191425 · focus · HN ↗
    A lot of banks in the UK have mobile-app-exclusive features / services. I imagine this is because of security, but it also makes little sense. If you don't have a smartphone it is about 5x harder to do anything online-banking related here. I remember when I went camping a bit ago my phone died and I was unable to unfreeze my card.
    Also, cool username =)
    autoexec · 1790193391 · focus · HN ↗
    > I remember when I went camping a bit ago my phone died and I was unable to unfreeze my card.
    Not even over the phone? I'd be furious. Cell phones die, get lost, get stolen, get run over, etc. I'd personally hate to feel so entirely dependent on my phone being there 100% of the time. I don't even always carry mine with me.
    [deleted] · 1790195353 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
    dukeyukey · 1790202499 · focus · HN ↗
    I imagine that if all banking apps go down as a result of war then bank websites, credit cards, basically any other digital financial thing will also be down.

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