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Zoom Acquires Keybase

keybase.io

281–290 of 751 posts

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#281

Given the security concerns around Zoom, and the apparent lack of QC that might have prevented those concerns, this news is appalling. I love Keybase, it's used by many people, but I suspect it will now die a quick death. More accurately I suspect it will slide into a coma - not quite dead, but not in wide use anymore either.

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Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#282
If the main reason for this acquision is for the Keybase engineering talent, I hope Zoom/Keybase does the right thing and open-sources the server code for Keybase, rather than letting the product die.

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I essentially didn't have a private key prior to Keybase, and I think it's still the only place I use it, so I'll end up rolling a new one if Keybase becomes fundamentally untrustworthy.

They are fundamentally untrustworthy. They haven't taken security issues in the past very seriously, they also have ties to China.

That’s Zoom. Post acquisition Keybase is tied to some of those, but not all. Their dev team is not going to move to China (at least not immediately) and past security issues in Zoom are no indication of Keybase safety.

This will possibly change over time though.

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I miss the days when businesses existed not just to serve investors but also their employees and the common good Uh when was this? For-profit businesses have always been created for the primary purpose of making money. Any side effect like employee well being happened to coincide with what maximized profits at the time or due to regulation.

Pre-1970 or so. Before Milton Friedman, there was a general sense that companies existed to fulfill some mission, with profit as a means. The CEO of Kellogg commented on this in an interview ca. 1980, that money for a business is like a gasoline for a road trip. You need it to get where you're going, but the point of a road trip is not to accumulate as much gasoline as possible.

Is this a joke? The bulk of the labor movement happened before 1970, and it was not because workers were so well-treated and well-compensated that they had a lot of free time on their hands.

I'm a big fan of business and entrepreneurship, but let's be clear here: there is a reason we invented government. There was never a time when we could 100% count on the beneficence of business leaders to advance social goals.

Edit to add: I'm not trying to demonize all business leaders here. There are some bad actors, but even business leaders who desire to do well have to succeed in the marketplace--even against bad actors. Unfortunately, doing bad things in business often confers the benefit of lowering costs, which is a competitive advantage. This is a known structural issue with a marketplace economy and why we need more than just business to have a good society.

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#285
post #40

Given the security concerns around Zoom, and the apparent lack of QC that might have prevented those concerns, this news is appalling. I love Keybase, it's used by many people, but I suspect it will now die a quick death. More accurately I suspect it will slide into a coma - not quite dead, but not in wide use anymore either.

why not look at the problem the other way around? I don't have much respect for zoom's security practices, while I do have much respect for the keybase team. Perhaps this is Zoom's way of admitting that there is no way they can just solve the problem internally by keeping doing what they're doing and they need to get some fresh blood and build upon good practices designed outside their current culture.

I really hope that's the case, for Zoom's sake. Unfortunately, that means less than nothing to me; I don't use Zoom, whilst I do use Keybase.

I don't trust Zoom to be custodians of the Keybase company or software. This has been a real blow to my confidence in them and I'm not sure I'll continue to use Keybase :(

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#286
The negativity here is astounding. This really comes down a company putting their money where their mouth is. Think about the reasons you'd decide to acquire Keybase. It certainly isn't for PR as most people have no idea what Keybase is.

What we are seeing is that Zoom is truly concerned about how their security posture is hurting their business. Remember they aren't the only game in town and there are plenty of competitors. Buying Keybase is an investment in their culture and longterm outlook.

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#288
post #118
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like protonmail.

They’re vc funded?

https://protonmail.com/about indicates they're funded to some extent by Charles River Ventures (https://www.crv.com/). They were initially crowdfunded, and also get funding from a Swiss nonprofit foundation.

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#289

The negativity here is astounding. This really comes down a company putting their money where their mouth is. Think about the reasons you'd decide to acquire Keybase. It certainly isn't for PR as most people have no idea what Keybase is. What we are seeing is that Zoom is truly concerned about how their security posture is hurting their business. Remember they aren't the only game in town and there are plenty of comp…

Best thing they could have done. They purchased expertise and a brand that is untarnished and loved in security circles.

Re: Zoom Acquires Keybase

#290
post #54

> Ultimately Keybase's future is in Zoom's hands Well, that definitely translates to uncertainty and ultimately the death of Keybase.

from Zoom's twitter: "We are excited to integrate Keybase’s team into the Zoom family to help us build end-to-end encryption that can reach current Zoom scalability." not a word about what happens to the existing technology which doesn't sound very reassuring to existing keybase users.

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