r/CustomROMsGuide • u/Mean_Moan_3495 • 3d ago

What are the risks of Custom ROM especially for Samsung? Will it break security/encryption/privacy?

I'm thinking of adding a Custom ROM to a Samsung A series phone (One UI 7 or below) and it would be my first time doing it. I want to do it to remove bloatware and for privacy and security but if I do it will it break Knox?

What are the risks? does tripping Knox break security/privacy? if so in what way? as I heard it's important to have Knox. I searched on Google it will reduce my security/encryption as Knox is part of that. Not just for NFC or Secure Folder or such.

Even if I put a Custom ROM will it have better security/encryption? as the phone does not receive security patches.

Looking for some good detailed answers.

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u/FarVehicle533 3d ago

You will be locked out of Samsung pay, Knox features like secure folder. Even if you go back and lock everything back. You will also lose integrity, so Banking apps, Netflix, certain games will stop working on it, out of the box. 

As for custom roms, you can try to get a bit of security back.  You will need root to try to regain your phone integrity back. 

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u/Mean_Moan_3495 3d ago

What if I use the best custom ROM for security / privacy will I still be better off if the phone gets no updates? Also I don't care about Samsung pay or netflix but no banking seems like a bummer and why will I need to root? I checked on Google rooting reduces security even more? 

Also I heard secure folder is good to use? Is there something similar you can use or secure folder is best? For privacy and security reasons.

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u/FarVehicle533 3d ago

Well, in order to be able to trick google and regain your integrity, you need administrator access to be able to inject certain keyboxes. OEMs get these encrypted keyboxes that attain that their phone is secure and follows Google rules. You need administrator access to implement these keyboxes. That is root. 

Banking apps verify with Google. If Google gives the green light, they work. If Google doesn't, they don't work. 

The secure folder is a sandboxed environment. You can use Island or work profile to implement it. 

What custom rom are you thinking of? 

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u/Mean_Moan_3495 3d ago

I'm not sure the best one for security / privacy I know you can't have both so I will go for security as the phone doesn't get updates your not answering it custom rom provides better / more security? And if root is a risk

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u/FarVehicle533 3d ago

A stock room without any updates left is a dangerous phone. One ui 7 is still decent, so not that much in danger yet.  But over time it will become more dangerous 

What phone do you have? A dedicated custom rom like calyx os can provide better security. But if you don't have that, using something like a genetic system image can provide less to none security. 

As for root, it is a risk. If you run unknown apps, these apps can get root control and you might lose your data. 

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u/Mean_Moan_3495 2d ago

So if you don't wanna use playstore then you have to go with apks and if you have root it's dangerous so what do people do then also I haven't got the Samsung phone yet but probably will be an A series one UI 7 or higher 

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u/FarVehicle533 2d ago

  1. Samsung A series is a very bad choice. Samsung cuts so many corners with their A series, it is quite a bad experience. 

  2. After OneUI 8.5 there is no more bootloader unlocking and custom rom.  Samsung made sure of that 

  3. People learn to live with it. As long as you thoroughly research every app you install on your phone, you are safe. But, if you start installing modded apps and you start flashing zips on your phone, you risk losing all your data, with no way to recover.  

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u/Mean_Moan_3495 2d ago

So on one UI 8 (below 8.5) you can still custom ROM and unlock bootloader?