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Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

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Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#61

Post by geofft »

lorenzhs wrote: post #57
sprafa wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard Signal has US Government backing, which makes me scared for an NSA backdoor. Any idea about this?

Where have you heard this? I wouldn't question Moxie's integrity lightly, his track record is impressive.

Wikipedia says that Open Whisper Systems has received a significant amount of funding [1] from the Open Technology Fund, run by Radio Free Asia [2], a US-government-run propaganda organization.

Of course, this is the arm of the US government that very actively doesn't want back doors, because they operate in territories controlled by other not-necessarily-friendly governments. They need communications to be reliably secret, and they have no need to tap those communications. It's the same reason that government funding for Tor isn't inherently a problem for Tor's security, and you see other parts of the US government, like the FBI, trying to hack it.

It's definitely worth worrying that the government could decide that this part of its mission is no longer worth funding. But it isn't likely to be a risk of back doors. (Especially compared to all the other usual risks, notably simple bugs like Heartbleed and Weak DH.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Whisper_Systems#Funding

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Asia

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#64

Post by tdkl »

libeclipse wrote: post #52
libeclipse wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wire was in the middle of a shitstorm a while back iirc because it falsly advertised that it encrypted everything end-to-end, when in actual fact only text was so.

Here's a source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2855745/new-communications-ap... My mistake. Text isn't end-to-end, only calls are.

Dec 5, 2014 8:42 AM

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#65

Post by mickaldo »

sprafa wrote: post #50
mrbiber wrote: post #21

At the moment, Signal and Wire seem to be the best options. They have open-source clients, end-to-end encryption, are easy enough to use that even less-computer savy people can be realistically convinced to use them and they seem to offer decent protection for metadata (not technical, but policy-wise). There are, however, some upcoming developments which will change the situation in the next couple of months: 1) The…

I've heard Signal has US Government backing, which makes me scared for an NSA backdoor. Any idea about this?

It is indeed backed by the US government, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8106721.

The best way to go is Threema, IMO. Can be used completely anonymously. Servers are located in Switzerland. Uses NaCl. Recommended by Steve Gibson. Not free, though.

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#66

Post by justanton »

Surprised that no one has mentioned Telegram https://telegram.org/ so far:

Encryption, fantastic stickers, photo editor, tons of interesting channels, probably the best bots platform out there.

+ all mobile platforms and desktop version (as well as web based)

You can also find it's code on github.

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#67

Post by jsjohnst »

lorenzhs wrote: post #12
blyuher wrote: post #3

Signal ( https://whispersystems.org/ ) got a good score from EFF. You may find this guide helpful - https://medium.freecodecamp.com/tor-signal-and-beyond-a-law-... edit: clarification

That article recommends Tor for browsing without mentioning the dangers involved. Malicious exit nodes are not hypothetical. It's easy to make mistakes with Tor, so I'd be wary of a general recommendation to use it. People who know more about this than me seem to agree: https://twitter.com/thegrugq/status/797608924606173184 edit: I'm also unsure about the warning against fingerprint authentication. I use Touch ID wit…

An alternative is to just turn the device off before you walk up to a potential issue. That way you're assured that the TouchID won't be accepted (last thing you'd want is to learn it only registered X presses rather than the Y required to disable). In the event you are caught off-guard, disabling TouchID is as simple as just holding in the power button until the screen goes black. If you practice this a few times, you could accomplish this even in a stressful situation.

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#68

Post by __derek__ »

justanton wrote: post #66

Surprised that no one has mentioned Telegram https://telegram.org/ so far: Encryption, fantastic stickers, photo editor, tons of interesting channels, probably the best bots platform out there. + all mobile platforms and desktop version (as well as web based) You can also find it's code on github.

The last I read was that Telegram was not secure. Is that not the case?

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#69

Post by dylz »

mickaldo wrote: post #65
sprafa wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard Signal has US Government backing, which makes me scared for an NSA backdoor. Any idea about this?

It is indeed backed by the US government, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8106721 . The best way to go is Threema, IMO. Can be used completely anonymously. Servers are located in Switzerland. Uses NaCl. Recommended by Steve Gibson. Not free, though.

- "requires payment" and "completely anonymously" seem at odds; especially when the person you're communicating with will likely have purchased it from an app store. i understand that there is a way to purchase it with btc at their own site, but that doesn't really help with licencing and GCM

- proper implementation of e2e means where the servers are shouldn't matter

- threema uses GCM too -> whole google play services framework

- this steve gibson? http://attrition.org/errata/charlatan/steve_gibson/

Re: Ask HN: Best encrypted messaging app atm?

#70

Post by dylz »

__derek__ wrote: post #68
justanton wrote: post #66

Surprised that no one has mentioned Telegram https://telegram.org/ so far: Encryption, fantastic stickers, photo editor, tons of interesting channels, probably the best bots platform out there. + all mobile platforms and desktop version (as well as web based) You can also find it's code on github.

The last I read was that Telegram was not secure. Is that not the case?

IIRC telegram secret chats are somewhat fine, all normal chat and group chat is insecure

Correct me if I'm wrong though

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