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Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

forbes.com

21–30 of 243 posts

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#21

If you own the phone, the messages are decrypted. This seems to be more about the phone access than anything to do with Signal, right?

Of course.

All these articles and "criticisms" of Signal started popping up right after the recent WhatsApp mini exodus. What a coincidence.

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#23
post #7

How is it possible that the FBI has so much advanced stuff when I’ve never met a skilled developer willing to work for what the government pays? Are their tools developed by high paid contractors?

First off, others have pointed out that these are 3rd party software companies providing the tools.

I'd like to talk about your other point though:

> I’ve never met a skilled developer willing to work for what the government pays

So there are a lot of very skilled developers working for the government right now. I'd agree you probably haven't met them. I've found that people who work for the government, especially on TS/SCI systems, do not go out and "network". They usually can't or won't talk about their work. Yes they get paid far lower than what they'd get from a SV startup, but maybe people aren't solely motivated by money. There are some nice things about working for certain parts of the government. First off, there is excellent job security. You pretty much never have to worry about getting fired, it isn't even in the back of your brain. Comparing that to a startup where you are almost always out of breath being worked too hard and you have that fear every day your job is going to disappear. Second, while the pay not be totally up to par, it also isn't bad. The hours are also great, there are laws that govern contracts and projects that limit employees to 40 hours per week. You will not be asked to work over that, even in "crunch" time, because it breaks competition laws when contracts are offered up to outside agencies who put in bids to do the work. Lastly, and most importantly, there is often a sense of pride or duty involved in the job. I know HN isn't exactly the most rah-rah-yay-government crowd, but there are a lot of people out there who have a desire to serve the public somehow. They believe they can do more good on the inside compared to those on the outside who just simply complain about the government.

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#24
post #18
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You clearly didn't read the article, since they call out the two companies who supply this type of technology to law enforcement organizations.

I’m more interested in their compensation than how they get paid. I know lots of work is done by contractors.

I don't get this. Your original comment said "Are their tools developed by high paid contractors?" but now you're claiming to have already known.

What exactly are you asking?

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#25
I hate be a spoil sport, but generally I don't need protection from the FBI, NSA, CIA. I need convenience to unlock my phone/laptop quickly with a fingerprint, even after a restart. XKCD nails this: https://xkcd.com/538

I'm MOST concerned with Google/Facebook continuously circumventing laws and violating my opt-out preferences. I'd like to have a null advertising ID for instance. Can't do that.

And besides, you don't own root access on your devices. Apple/Google does. To think that a userspace app is secure where Google/Apple controls the kernel, or even something basic as remote screenshots is sort of silly.

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#26

Why would criminals not use expiring messages? Bizarre that you’d go to these lengths to use e2e chat and then not expire your messages after say an hour.

Criminals are quite often not the sharpest tools in the shed. Expiring messages, staying up on the latest hardware, etc.

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#27

Why would criminals not use expiring messages? Bizarre that you’d go to these lengths to use e2e chat and then not expire your messages after say an hour.

The smart ones don't get their phones seized by the FBI

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#28

If you own the phone, the messages are decrypted. This seems to be more about the phone access than anything to do with Signal, right?

Yes, nothing special - if someone else has your phone, it's not your phone anymore.

Re: Evidence that the FBI can hack into private Signal messages on a locked iPhone

#30
post #21

If you own the phone, the messages are decrypted. This seems to be more about the phone access than anything to do with Signal, right?

Of course. All these articles and "criticisms" of Signal started popping up right after the recent WhatsApp mini exodus. What a coincidence.

I mean it makes sense. People are concerned about data privacy on WhatsApp so they move to signal. Then the people who have always said “signal isn’t perfectly secure” must reiterate to the masses what that have said many times before.
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