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NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

reuters.com

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Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#31

Post by vocatus_gate »

milofeynman wrote: post #9

The article doesn't really say what hackers had access to, but it sounds like they had full control over their phones. There is a lot bigger story here and I'd love to read a post-mortem in a few months. Also, WhatsApp is such an obvious target for a state actor. I saw several articles of the last year that mentioned Jared Kushner using Whatsapp so I assume a lot of government folks use it for off the books "encrypte…

A buddy of mine is Special Forces (U.S.). He said JSOC recently banned use of WhatsApp and encouraged everyone to switch to the open-source Signal (another encrypted messaging app). Allegedly WhatsApp uses Signal's encryption (OpenWhisper) but I stopped trusting it the second Facebook bought them out.

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#34

Post by pmoriarty »

dotancohen wrote: post #24
gpm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends who your adversaries are. It's one thing to say "they shouldn't use a facebook channel to talk securely", it's another to say "they shouldn't use a facebook channel on the same device as they use another channel to talk securely". My understanding of this was that it is the latter. Unfortunately people often don't have the luxury of doing the latter.

> Unfortunately people often don't have the luxury of doing the latter. What? Just don't install the Facebook or other social apps. I do have Telegram, but no other social media apps on my phone. If you need to communicate, then SMS / MMS / telephone is fine. What can be done with Facebook that cannot be done with normal SMS or MMS or phone calls or video calls?

The Facebook app came pre-installed on my Android phone, and I couldn't get rid of it without rooting my phone (which would make it less secure).

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#35

Post by vocatus_gate »

godelski wrote: post #29
cloudyo wrote: post #5

Sometimes you just feel like using Signal instead

Not that I'm dissing Signal (it is my preferred platform, sadly not most used), but don't both WA and Signal use Open Whispers systems? So isn't there the potential that the same exploit might work on Signal?

WhatsApp allegedly uses an implementation of the OpenWhisper encryption system that Signal created (and still uses). However as there is no source code available unlike Signal, there's no way to verify if WhatsApp "really" is using it (or using it correctly).

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#36

Post by vocatus_gate »

blotter_paper wrote: post #27
cloudyo wrote: post #5

Sometimes you just feel like using Signal instead

I mean, Signal is open source and not owned by Facebook, so I'm not sure why anybody uses WhatsApp instead.

It's a much better app, user experience-wise. I prefer Signal for obvious reasons, but WhatsApp is easier to use (and has a much better web interface).

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#37

Post by akerro »

vocatus_gate wrote: post #31
milofeynman wrote: post #9

The article doesn't really say what hackers had access to, but it sounds like they had full control over their phones. There is a lot bigger story here and I'd love to read a post-mortem in a few months. Also, WhatsApp is such an obvious target for a state actor. I saw several articles of the last year that mentioned Jared Kushner using Whatsapp so I assume a lot of government folks use it for off the books "encrypte…

A buddy of mine is Special Forces (U.S.). He said JSOC recently banned use of WhatsApp and encouraged everyone to switch to the open-source Signal (another encrypted messaging app). Allegedly WhatsApp uses Signal's encryption (OpenWhisper) but I stopped trusting it the second Facebook bought them out.

>y banned use of WhatsApp and encouraged everyone to switch to the open-source Signal (another encrypted messaging app)

Oversimplification: WhatsApp is based on Signal, but repurposed for Facebook.

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#38

Post by sparkywolf »

rshnotsecure wrote: post #15

Dozens of tech companies around the world that were established in the last 4-5 years were done so entirely for the purpose of being fronts for spy agencies to engage in the vast collection of data. This extends also to shipping, licensing, and auditing companies. One example is https://www.pacificbasin.com/en/fleet/fleet.php Somehow they’ve managed to assemble the worlds 2nd largest cargo fleet in terms of dry weigh…

Yeah, gonna need a source on Proton and Credit Karma

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#39

Post by gpm »

dotancohen wrote: post #24
gpm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends who your adversaries are. It's one thing to say "they shouldn't use a facebook channel to talk securely", it's another to say "they shouldn't use a facebook channel on the same device as they use another channel to talk securely". My understanding of this was that it is the latter. Unfortunately people often don't have the luxury of doing the latter.

> Unfortunately people often don't have the luxury of doing the latter. What? Just don't install the Facebook or other social apps. I do have Telegram, but no other social media apps on my phone. If you need to communicate, then SMS / MMS / telephone is fine. What can be done with Facebook that cannot be done with normal SMS or MMS or phone calls or video calls?

I also don't have any facebook apps on my phone - but from what I understand there are countries where whatsapp is how a lot of business is done. If you can't afford the time and opportunity cost of avoiding those businesses you have to install it.

Re: NSO hacked WhatsApp to spy on top government officials at U.S. allies

#40

Post by sergiomattei »

galazzah wrote: post #22
rshnotsecure wrote: post #15

Dozens of tech companies around the world that were established in the last 4-5 years were done so entirely for the purpose of being fronts for spy agencies to engage in the vast collection of data. This extends also to shipping, licensing, and auditing companies. One example is https://www.pacificbasin.com/en/fleet/fleet.php Somehow they’ve managed to assemble the worlds 2nd largest cargo fleet in terms of dry weigh…

Can you provide any sources? Surprised to see Credit Karma on here...

This. It's easy to come on places and spew conspiracy theories, but this is a really heavy accusation to many reputable companies.

Back it up or nothin'.

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