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Telegram has a poor security record, with homegrown encryption algorithms and no end to end encryption by default.
Telegram has a poor security record, with homegrown encryption algorithms and no end to end encryption by default.
> P.S. Today, we're also introducing Telegram X for Android, a new official app. What is wrong with the current app? Or was that not official? I find it better than the Facebook Messenger (light or not) and it's definitely much better than the Hangouts app from Google.
> P.S. Today, we're also introducing Telegram X for Android, a new official app. What is wrong with the current app? Or was that not official? I find it better than the Facebook Messenger (light or not) and it's definitely much better than the Hangouts app from Google.
They have had two apps (Telegram vs Telegram Desktop) on macOS too for a while. IIRC one is Electron-ish-based and the other is native Cocoa. The first one got features slightly faster but lacked Secret Chats IIRC.
Explains why it doesn't take a minute to start and doesn't need a gigabyte of memory.
Telegram has a poor security record, with homegrown encryption algorithms and no end to end encryption by default.
And by the way, "no end to end encryption by default" -- is intentional tradeoff for cross-device message history sharing by default, which is not possible in case of e2e, without key transferring
It might have been an intentional tradeoff when Telegram came out, but it's not any more. It's not a great defense for the fact that you chat history exists in plain text on Telegram servers.
Telegram has a poor security record, with homegrown encryption algorithms and no end to end encryption by default.
While I am wary of "build-your-own-crypto", saying it has a poor security record is, to my knowledge so far, incorrect. I have yet to see satisfactory cryptanalysis that shows a weakness (theoretical or real) in the protocol. If anything, it seems to withstand scrutiny so far. Even the dedicated security.se.com question[0] seems like it wraps itself in tautologies. Until then, throwing the "homegrown encryption" argu…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They have had two apps (Telegram vs Telegram Desktop) on macOS too for a while. IIRC one is Electron-ish-based and the other is native Cocoa. The first one got features slightly faster but lacked Secret Chats IIRC.
I was actually positively surprised to see the Telegram application is qt based. Not sure which one is it of the two you mention, it's just called "Telegram", and is same on both Windows and OSX. Explains why it doesn't take a minute to start and doesn't need a gigabyte of memory.
The effort that went into that thing is amazing. It's fast on my 5 years old Pentium.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And by the way, "no end to end encryption by default" -- is intentional tradeoff for cross-device message history sharing by default, which is not possible in case of e2e, without key transferring
I use a messaging service called Wire that does E2E, cross device messaging history by default (up to 6 devices), using very friendly, familiar UX - you only need to sign in on your device. It might have been an intentional tradeoff when Telegram came out, but it's not any more. It's not a great defense for the fact that you chat history exists in plain text on Telegram servers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I am wary of "build-your-own-crypto", saying it has a poor security record is, to my knowledge so far, incorrect. I have yet to see satisfactory cryptanalysis that shows a weakness (theoretical or real) in the protocol. If anything, it seems to withstand scrutiny so far. Even the dedicated security.se.com question[0] seems like it wraps itself in tautologies. Until then, throwing the "homegrown encryption" argu…
FWIW, four years ago, the HN zeitgeist considered the cryptography blunders made by Telegram, when conbined with their hubris over how their protocol was clearly perfect, a death knell for the company from which they would never recover. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6948742
I've found Telegram to be more than good enough for day to day communications where I would previously have used email or SMS/MMS.
Telegram has a poor security record, with homegrown encryption algorithms and no end to end encryption by default.