Users of the Signal messaging app got hit by a hacker attack. We analyze what happened and why the attack demonstrates that Signal is reliable.

  • bkrl
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    2 years ago

    In the meantime, that’s the best I’ve got. And it’s not too bad, to be fair.

    Are you quite certain? Have you looked hard and concluded that Signal is the best alternative available today?

    I can tell you that my messenger doesn’t use identifiers, it doesn’t track me, it doesn’t care who my contacts are, it doesn’t ask for my email, phone number, and importantly it does everything Signal does.

    • JonesOP
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      2 years ago

      Yes, I have been following Signal and alternatives since… well since TextSecure was only for SMS. And I find that many times people critical about Signal don’t really know much about it except for the fact that it uses the phone number (not the email).

      Again, not saying it’s perfect. Just that for my threat model (which arguably is a valid threat model for billions of people), it’s a very good solution.

      • bkrl
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        2 years ago

        You cannot know what kind of government we will have in ten years, nor is it said that your good behavior will be enough to keep you out of trouble. Millions of Jews had done nothing wrong, yet they were persecuted. Moreover, the fact that you have nothing to hide does not fully express what you could do if you had instead: sort of like giving up your right to speak because you have nothing to say.

        • JonesOP
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          2 years ago

          This seems completely off-topic to me. I never said I have nothing to hide. The Signal client app (i.e. the part that you can audit, compile and run, not the server) provides a lot of privacy already: e2e encryption via the excellent Signal protocol, private profile, private groups, sealed sender. So in terms of metadata, the Signal server never knows what you write, who is in which group, and to whom you are writing. Again, from the client code that you can audit yourself before you run it.

          On top of that, leveraging the secure enclaves, the Signal server (tries to) guarantee(s) the private contact discovery (based on the hashes of your contact list). Which means that if you trust the SGX enclave, all that the Signal server knows is your phone number. If you don’t trust the enclave, then you can assume that the server got access to your contacts when you did the discovery (i.e. when you installed the app).

          That’s very, very, very far from saying I have nothing to hide.

          • linzilla
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            2 years ago

            Signal introduced closed-source server side code last November. The founder and CEO stepped down from his position this January… End of story to me about Signal

            • JonesOP
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              2 years ago

              Signal introduced closed-source server side code last November.

              What? I’m not aware of that. Source?

            • bkrl
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              2 years ago

              Oh yeah bro. You have my thumbnail up. Seems only a detail but freedom defenders (Signal) have their backs sitted in California…

      • bkrl
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        2 years ago

        It is the sole messenger that doesn’t use identificators. You cannot get wrong.

          • bkrl
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            2 years ago

            At the moment I think more than 3000 people. Young app. Needs it to spread.

                • JonesOP
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                  2 years ago

                  Oh, yet another messenger that pretends that it’s the only one that can prevent MITM. Abusive marketing, or plain misunderstanding of what e2ee means? Anyway I wouldn’t trust them just for that.

                  • bkrl
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                    2 years ago

                    The code is open. You can check your own doubts.