FBI Warns iPhone And Android Users—Stop Sending Texts

Zarathustra[H] said:
Great troll post.

In that vein, I don't message anyone outside of Signal, because I don't associate with morons who can't be bothered to care about privacy :p
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Signal is compromised af, just FYI. Been off it for about 2 years now.
 
cpufrost said:
So this "expert" in the Forbes link recommends using WhatsApp. Now that's hilarious. Screw Meta and Zuckerberg. Any packet associated with that detritus is stripped from our network layers here for good reason. We've checked out Signal and for the most part it seems OK.
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WhatsApp is used by a ridiculous number of people already especially in Europe. It’s basically the standard.
 
So the organization that's taken a very public stance against encrypted messaging wants everyone to stop using unencrypted messaging because China is using their own fucking back doors to spy on Americans?

Well that's not fair at all.
 
Lakados said:
WhatsApp is used by a ridiculous number of people already especially in Europe. It’s basically the standard.
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Whatsapp already has the man in the middle built in for convenient data collection by Facebook.

That's not going to be the solution.

4saken said:
Signal is compromised af, just FYI. Been off it for about 2 years now.
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You have any links for that? This is the first I have heard of anything of that nature.
 
erek said:
Even if you disable iMessage?
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RCS works regardless of iMessage. It requires everyone to update their phones to iOS 18 though, and many people like never update their phone.

Keep in mind RCS isn’t encrypted. Only googles proprietary RCS is psuedo encrypted.
 
travm said:
If that's so why can't I RCS message an iPhone user?
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They have to be on iOS 18. If their phone is too old to update to iOS 18, or they just haven't done it, then you can't use RCS with them. I message several Android friends every day via RCS. It will say RCS or SMS on the iPhone depending on what is being used.
 
travm said:
If that's so why can't I RCS message an iPhone user?
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They need iOS 18. However, RCS is half-assed on iOS. You get the "Rich Communication" piece but you don't get the encryption piece because they don't go through Google's Jibe servers. Without Google pushing RCS it never would have happened. All the carriers are bastards about it and each wanted their own version of RCS. So Google gave them the finger and we're all better for it. If Google hadn't done it we'd have a Verizon RCS, T-Mobile RCS, and AT&T RCS. All which wouldn't communicate with each other properly.

Say what you want but Google's RCS is encrypted and usable by anybody which is a good thing as it did bring some encryption to the masses by default. I believe Samsung uses it by default as well.

That said any messaging app where the key is not under your control is not all that secure anyways. The best way to go is Signal, Matrix, or Session Messenger so you control the keys. Matrix and Session can both be self-hosted as well.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Great troll post.

In that vein, I don't message anyone outside of Signal, because I don't associate with morons who can't be bothered to care about privacy :p
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This is what I try for, but man it can be hard. Luckily those closest to me I got them on Signal and some good friends for group chats also, so now they are used to it. Most new people I chat with I tell them I use Signal so add that, most will and surprised sometimes at how many people do have it once you add them as a contact in your device, but always those other family members who just use default DM apps, but we all tend to be on the same platform anyways.
 
mullet said:
Social media should go away and go back to forums and websites.
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I joke how LLM's are using forums and such for learning, what happens when people like us, stop posting on forums because everyone moved to LLM's... now how do you feed those LLM's when no one is providing new data / solutions to things..
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Whatsapp already has the man in the middle built in for convenient data collection by Facebook.

That's not going to be the solution.
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WhatsApp uses the OpenWhisper Signal Protocol to encrypt messages, each device generates a new key each time the app is launched, and it is directly negotiated each time a conversation is started.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Protocol

The only thing it allows the platforms servers to keep is the meta data of who contacted who and when, but it can't and doesnt contain any of the content of that message.

WhatsApp and Signal now use the same encryption the only difference seems to be how long they keep that meta data, Signal says they only keep it as long as they need it to send the messages, I don't know what Meta's stance on that data is.
 
Vermillion said:
They need iOS 18. However, RCS is half-assed on iOS. You get the "Rich Communication" piece but you don't get the encryption piece because they don't go through Google's Jibe servers. Without Google pushing RCS it never would have happened. All the carriers are bastards about it and each wanted their own version of RCS. So Google gave them the finger and we're all better for it. If Google hadn't done it we'd have a Verizon RCS, T-Mobile RCS, and AT&T RCS. All which wouldn't communicate with each other properly.

Say what you want but Google's RCS is encrypted and usable by anybody which is a good thing as it did bring some encryption to the masses by default. I believe Samsung uses it by default as well.

That said any messaging app where the key is not under your control is not all that secure anyways. The best way to go is Signal, Matrix, or Session Messenger so you control the keys. Matrix and Session can both be self-hosted as well.
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And the Google Jibe servers scan every message going through them for actionable or marketable content.

But I wouldn't call Apple's implementation half assed, they implemented it to the most recent standard, they just opted not to include any of the 3'rd party proprietary add-ons to the protocol.
 
Shoganai said:
It's not "compromised AF."
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That is my take as well, but I was trying to keep an open mind.

Nothing surprises me anymore, but plenty of experts in the field seem to suggest that Signal is the best there is, and one of the few actually private messaging options.

There are also plenty of organizations and people out there who would benefit from you not having the most secure and private messaging options there is, and I expect them to badmouth Signal in spectacular fashion.
 
Lakados said:
I’m more than a little perturbed they won’t name the networks.

Nor the name of the network provider that was initially hacked that was used as the back door to get into the rest of the networks.
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It’s every network.
 
MrGuvernment said:
I joke how LLM's are using forums and such for learning, what happens when people like us, stop posting on forums because everyone moved to LLM's... now how do you feed those LLM's when no one is providing new data / solutions to things..
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LLM's start using data from government, then skynet begins. Then the circle is complete.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
That is my take as well, but I was trying to keep an open mind.
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My best guess is he's just repeating things from a Musk tweet. Musk tweeted, without evidence or further clarification, "There are known vulnerabilities with Signal that are not being addressed. Seems odd …"

Given Musk's propensity for posting things that are unverified and/or exaggerated I certainly wouldn't believe it without some proof. Security researchers all still seem to trust/recommend Signal and I've seen nothing from any of them about any compromise, and I do stay up on this kind of thing given my job and certifications.

If anyone has any evidence of Signal having issues, either direct evidence or a security researcher talking about it, I'd love to hear it. However I'm skeptical of people posting things as facts with nothing to back it up.
 

USB-C cable CT scan reveals sinister active electronics — O.MG pen testing cable contains a hidden antenna and another die embedded in the microcontroller​


1733440407696.png

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-i...d-another-die-embedded-in-the-microcontroller
 
1_rick said:
The name "pen testing cable" probably should've been a clue.
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I mean they aren't doing it because they didn't know, they are showing it and showing how difficult it is to notice. You can see it on a CT scan if you know what to look for but on a 2D xray it is almost impossible to see.
 
Lakados said:
WhatsApp uses the OpenWhisper Signal Protocol to encrypt messages, each device generates a new key each time the app is launched, and it is directly negotiated each time a conversation is started.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Protocol

The only thing it allows the platforms servers to keep is the meta data of who contacted who and when, but it can't and doesnt contain any of the content of that message.

WhatsApp and Signal now use the same encryption the only difference seems to be how long they keep that meta data, Signal says they only keep it as long as they need it to send the messages, I don't know what Meta's stance on that data is.
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I was referring to this.

https://www.propublica.org/article/...-protections-for-its-2-billion-whatsapp-users

I don't know if it has changed since 2021, but quite frankly, Facebook has the incentive to disregard it at any moment, and has exhibited that kind of behavior before, so their super-secret promise that they arent looking at your messages doesn't really bring me any comfort.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
That is my take as well, but I was trying to keep an open mind.

Nothing surprises me anymore, but plenty of experts in the field seem to suggest that Signal is the best there is, and one of the few actually private messaging options.

There are also plenty of organizations and people out there who would benefit from you not having the most secure and private messaging options there is, and I expect them to badmouth Signal in spectacular fashion.
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That is what is tough with apps like this. It requires trust that it is doing what it is claiming. I feel like a stronger trust is warranted for signal much more than whatsapp. Mainly due to the business focus of Meta and having private conversations using their service going against that business model entirely.
 
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