EU Commission to staff: Switch to Signal messaging app

Post by fvdessen » Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

Aaronmacaron wrote: post #157

They should use Threema [1] which is based in Switzerland. Even though Switzerland is not in the EU it's not as bad as the US (from an EU standpoint) and since Switzerland is heavily dependent on the EU the likelihood of them spying on the EU is pretty small. Apart from that Threema publishes a transparency report [2] where they list all requests from governmental authorities. [1]: https://threema.ch/en [2]: https://…

Post by sschueller » Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 4:01 PM UTC

Aaronmacaron wrote: post #157

They should use Threema [1] which is based in Switzerland. Even though Switzerland is not in the EU it's not as bad as the US (from an EU standpoint) and since Switzerland is heavily dependent on the EU the likelihood of them spying on the EU is pretty small. Apart from that Threema publishes a transparency report [2] where they list all requests from governmental authorities. [1]: https://threema.ch/en [2]: https://…

   "Der Dienst ÜPF erklärt eine Anbieterin abgeleiteter Kommunikationsdienste als eine mit weitergehenden Auskunftspflichten (Art. 22 Abs. 4 BÜPF), wenn sie eine der nachstehenden Grössen erreicht hat:

   a. 100 Auskunftsgesuche in den letzten 12 Monaten (Stichtag: 30. Juni);

   b. Jahresumsatz in der Schweiz von 100 Millionen Franken in zwei aufeinander folgenden Geschäftsjahren, wobei ein grosser Teil ihrer Geschäftstätigkeit im Anbieten abgeleiteter Kommunikationsdienste besteht, und 5000 Teilnehmende, die die Dienste der Anbieterin in Anspruch nehmen." [1]

Post by Mirioron » Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 4:10 PM UTC

throwaway47748 wrote: post #150

bambataa wrote: post #144

I once worked in the Commission, briefly. Technical security seemed to be non-existent as far as I could tell (in an admittedly very junior role). Once all of the interns got invited to the U.S. embassy to meet the Ambassador (some guy who literally said he got the job because he was friends with Obama). On the way out the nice embassy staff gave us goodie-bags, complete with handy pen drives... Basically everyone wa…

And I work at a European cybersecurity company and we are routinely tasked to inspect USB drives and devices EU politicians receive at conferences, so I guess we've come full circle. I'm sure the NSA has implants in the EU systems but they're not dumb enough to just hand them out on USB drives that can be traced back to them.

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 4:19 PM UTC

Aaronmacaron wrote: post #157

They should use Threema [1] which is based in Switzerland. Even though Switzerland is not in the EU it's not as bad as the US (from an EU standpoint) and since Switzerland is heavily dependent on the EU the likelihood of them spying on the EU is pretty small. Apart from that Threema publishes a transparency report [2] where they list all requests from governmental authorities. [1]: https://threema.ch/en [2]: https://…

Post by johannes1234321 » Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 4:29 PM UTC

berkes wrote: post #204

johannes1234321 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such projects are expensive since it's not only development but also rollout including training of users. The development is also more expensive than in other areas since there is need for documentation. And then there is a flaw in the process: Producing the software has to be done via some bidding process. For writing the requirements documents they already rely on companies, which can add clauses making it hard for…

That, and they are expensive, because people expect them to be expensive. When, say, the national Police asks companies to come up with sofware to manage contact details for all employees, you could come up with "Install and Configure SomeOpenSourceCRM on a VPS" for €3000. Whereas typically some Enterprise Consultancy quotes a factor hundred of that to "integrate" it in a crappy way. I've worked in such projects, for…