osdril

Reading some discussions on HN, it looks like many people claim that using a phone which no longer receives security updates is a terrible idea because the probability of you getting hacked dramatically increases.

On the other hand, millions of people in the world run unpatched Android phones everyday and yet I cannot find any significant report of them being hacked because of this. It looks like most vulnerabilities are only really exploited in targeted attacks to specific personalities (activists, journalists, etc.) and the ongoing discussion about the topic is mostly speculation.

So, really, how unreasonable am I being in using an unpatched phone? (All the apps and the Play Services are still being regularly updated)

I don't like being forced to replace a still functioning device, but if there's any real high-probability risk I guess it's just the most sensible option.

I own a 5+ years old low-end Android phone whose official sw support ended in 2021. I've installed LineageOS on it but unfortunately it lost that support as well and I'm currently stuck with October 2022 security patches.

The phone still runs mostly fine for my needs, but I don't know if keeping using it is a very wise choice considering the total lack of updates.

I don't really "like" phones (generally prefer my laptop for pretty much everything) and I really hate the idea of throwing away a still functioning device. At the same time, I can find many good deals for refurbished 2022 iPhone SEs and I think that model would last for quite a few years (considering it has an A15), so a part of me thinks that this could be a smart time to upgrade.

How much do you think I should worry, really?