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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

#111

Earlier this month the DOJ asked Facebook to "halt end-to-end encryption" by adding a backdoor to all of Facebook's apps. Perhaps this is a reason. https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/03/doj-facebook-end-to-end-...

Why would facebook comply?

Why wouldn't a company of that size comply?

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

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Couldn't you determine by looking at the code in the APK, at least for Android?

Yes, "no way to verify" is a bit strong. Not as easy to verify is true (but: if you review the source, you'd also have to build the app yourself).

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

#114

What are Israel doing to get so good at this and chip design and weapons making and everything else they seem to be really good at? There’s only about 8 million people in the whole country. There are plenty of cities with more people than that. How come they punch so far above their weight?

Lots and lots of outside money.

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

#115

What are Israel doing to get so good at this and chip design and weapons making and everything else they seem to be really good at? There’s only about 8 million people in the whole country. There are plenty of cities with more people than that. How come they punch so far above their weight?

Other countries off-shoring their spycraft.

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

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

It's certainly better to have source, but this seems like a matter of degree? You don't really know what's in Signal unless you compile it yourself, and/or they have reproducible builds and you verify checksums. Instead you're trusting that the source matches the binary, and probably also that someone else who knows more about crypto is reviewing the source carefully.

In the modern world we basically outsource everything, including trust and verification. An open, social process of verification can be better, though.

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

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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).

Sad to see you're downvoted. The state of open source on Android is quite dire - it's difficult to run a fully patched ASOP - and the alternative is "customized" os installs with tons of crap. If nothing else, the more code that runs, the more bugs to exploit.

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

#118

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…

> That company is a front for the Chinese military, because if you do a reverse WHOIS search you will see http://pacbasin.com was also registered by the same organization...it is an autonomous drone hardware and extended flight operations firm.

Alternative explanation: Pacific Basin decided at some point that they needed an internet presence, and in addition to their main site pacificbasin.com they also registered pacbasin.com to prevent typo-squatting. Some time later, they decided that was no longer necessary and let the domain lapse. Subsequently, it was picked up for cheap to host the glossy marketing website of what appears to be a drone company.

Problems with that website: the social media icons are just for show; the contact email is for the likely unrelated startech.com; I can't find any way to buy their product; the company is called "星彩网平台航拍无人机系统", "星彩" evoking associations to lotteries. It's also completely unrelated to the domain name.

My personal interpretation: the website is intended to scam Chinese investors with a gambling mentality into throwing their money at a fake "high-tech company."

Do you have any data that would be able to distinguish between your hypothesis and my alternative?

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

#119

What are Israel doing to get so good at this and chip design and weapons making and everything else they seem to be really good at? There’s only about 8 million people in the whole country. There are plenty of cities with more people than that. How come they punch so far above their weight?

Israel got about a million highly educated ex-Soviet immigrants who kick started the hi-tech industry in the early 90s. It’s slowly declining tho as Israel focuses more on educating kids about their “Jewish identity” than science and technology.

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

#120

What are Israel doing to get so good at this and chip design and weapons making and everything else they seem to be really good at? There’s only about 8 million people in the whole country. There are plenty of cities with more people than that. How come they punch so far above their weight?

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