Which doesn't have end-to-end encryption by default - and no business model?

Actually, I don't get why people would ever recommend Telegram.

Telegram “just works” for me most of the time (except when it has some outages, which are somewhat rare). It is also highly feature rich, fast, and works in multiple devices. It’s the best alternative to WhatsApp for things that people who don’t care much about privacy or security care about.

Access to Visa & MasterCard isn't what I'd call easy and convenient.

Previously, my perception was that WeChat Pay isn't available for me because WeChat isn't allowed to operate payment services in Europe, thus tries to keep me outside the system.

However, things could be easier since it's prepaid.

OP here.

Foreign credit cards are almost never accepted in China. I've sometimes been able to use my non-Chinese Visa card in supermarkets, although even that has been rare and tedious. And hotels all take foreign credit cards, but that's clearly because so many foreigners want to use them to pay.

It's quite possible that WeChat is trying to avoid being regulated by non-Chinese authorities, and thus keeps foreigners out. They certainly (I'm guessing) don't want to have to deal with banking and privacy rules in other countries. So as you say, by keeping it restricted to prepaid usage, everyone wins.

The only thing I don't understand here is why they don't make it easier, more obvious, or more accessible to foreigners. The workarounds I describe have made my visits to China far easier over the last six months, and I hope that others will benefit, too!

I absolutely agree with you. The point I did want to make is that access to other payment methods isn't really easy, either.

Reading your article was a joy for me an I think it will help many people.

I think many people here do that.

Let computers be the tool you use. You don't profit from imaginary "elegance" in parts of the computer that you don't need for your daily work. Be a regular user. Develop only what you're good at.

Think about return on (time) investment. If you take weeks to configure your editor and learn how it works, it's most likely not worth it.

It's okay for software to be intuitive and easy. It's a tool, after all. If there is no proper onboarding and the software doesn't explain itself, the developers didn't get the UX right. You shouldn't rely on them for your work.

yup, i dread setting up a new computer. had to do that just this month. it was a relief to finally get on with work and be done with setup and configuration.

for the same reason i like to use programs at their defaults and not spend hours tweaking them.

instead i'll do that very slowly over time whenever something bugs me enough that i feel the need to change it.

Has there been any development that goes beyond masking?

What might me important for some reader: shutting off 2G services means that you won't have telephone voice services, if your operator doesn't support voLTE.

No, there's also 3G as well, remember. My phone allows 2G, 3G, 2G and 3G, 3G and 4G, or 2G and 3G and 4G network selections in its settins menu (Android 7, Sony)

Do you have information on professional detection equipment?

Detection apps are known to be ineffective. It's mostly because IMSI catchers comply with the standard. Your baseband will fall for that - there's not much useful information to be passed to the operating system - or even an app.

Most firms who sell lawfull interception appliances also sell the appliances required to protect, detect or mitigate against it. Usually they only sell their appliances to law enforcement, the militairy and intelligence agencies after signing a NDA. The legality is often dubious, and atleast some are nothing but a expensive user friendly box around GNU radio, osmocom and very little code of their own. ( But my knowledge could be dated. ) If you so desire mail me for a list of names, but i'd rather not post them here connected to my identity.

I won't contact you in that matter. I get an idea from what you've said, thank you.

What flaws are there, exactly? Missing mutual authentication are the main cause for 2G's security issues. There are no trivial MitM attacks on 3G and 4G - besides denial of service that may result in downgrades. There are location and identity leaks, but that's user tracking at best. Not to compare with 2G.

What am I missing here?

There is no problem for a stasi wannabe to use legal process to extort the base station credentials from the phone company. There should be defences against carrier assisted MITM, like signed NONCEs and per-carrier station public key registers with accountable station data (location, station photos, etc)

If you question lawful interception, then your problem is not the technical standard that allows it, but your have a problem with society and the laws it implements.

There are good reasons to have security endpoints in the core network instead of the base stations. But it doesn't affect lawful interception at all.

2G doesn't have mutual authentication, thereby Man-in-the-Middle attacks are trivial. From 3G on, attackers cannot simply fake the real network.

Actually 5G provides this overhaul, more than it provides speed benefits for customers.

The 4G backend still has a web of trust between operators and their e.g. IP exchange providers. As far as I know, this will change with 5G.

Roaming data confidentiality can then be routed and encrypted until the home operator network, while the associated metadata is accessible for the IP X to provide their services.

The home operator can verify the smartphone is actually in the visited network.

These are all bits and pieces that break up the operator's web of trust.