91–100 of 243 posts
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Yes. But note that Signal doesn't know your number. Usernames are being promised this year too.
> But note that Signal doesn't know your number Courts can compel them to keep these records, and require them to not disclose to their customers that they are doing so.
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.
Because expiring/detonating messages are not valid security. Signal even warns of this: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320771-Se... If Charlie is selling drugs to Bob and Alice, expiring messages don't help Charlie out if the others are finding ways to capture data on the screen before the message expires (which, is very common for very innocent, non-malicious reasons). Similarly, though I've not…
Ie, use E2EE, use expiring messages, use out-of-band challenge/accept (ie, recipient has to mention keyword or conversation stays plausibly deniable) all seem applicable.
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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…
You forgot a huge dimension of those jobs: As you get older, you are more valuable. No "silicon valley" syndrome about age: you'd never have to dye your hair, wear a hoodie to fit in, nobody will blink if you have to take a day off to take care of the kids. You can be a real adult - nobody comes into those programs and expects a ball pit or a foosball table, and nobody seriously thinks someone right out of college bu…
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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…
It's also worth noting that depending on their security clearance they can't go out and network or have public-facing profiles.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
You forgot a huge dimension of those jobs: As you get older, you are more valuable. No "silicon valley" syndrome about age: you'd never have to dye your hair, wear a hoodie to fit in, nobody will blink if you have to take a day off to take care of the kids. You can be a real adult - nobody comes into those programs and expects a ball pit or a foosball table, and nobody seriously thinks someone right out of college bu…
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I know contractors are common but I don’t know if they’re paid a lot or if they can ignore the government employee pay scale.
Of course they can ignore the gov't employee pay scale. Contractors get paid variable amounts, depending on what they're working on and for whom. Many defense contractors (can't speak to the intel side of things) get paid 25-100% more than their GS counterparts, if they have an actual counterpart. Though that's not universal. Their pay is also not capped, like civilian pay is in the US federal government. EDIT: For f…
For those interested, here is a link to the base pay with the locality adjustment for each geographic area: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries...
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Just like women in tech — or any male dominated industries — have proportionately more unfortunate encounters with men because each woman has more men around her to begin with?
Isn't it the case not just in tech, but literally in any field that is male-dominated? I strongly doubt that the problem you describe is any less prevalent in finance or academia, for example. Not a comprehensive list, of course, those were just two off the top of my head.
Universal encryption is a defense against blanket vacuuming of communications for later offline analysis. Its a defense against a massive parallel MITM attack against the world's communications infrastructure. Its not a defense against targeted attacks of individual devices.
This is why I keep a "universal hammer" at my desk. If the gov boys walk in all I have to do is use it on my phone / laptop. Problem solved. Thinking about upgrading to a small commercial grade shredder or microwave.
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Of course. All these articles and "criticisms" of Signal started popping up right after the recent WhatsApp mini exodus. What a coincidence.
Maybe your assumption that something dubious is going on can be eliminated by Occam's razor? Because: any business that gains in popularity will automatically also see higher press coverage.
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> Monitoring shouldn't be the default but only happen when there is a warranted reason to monitor, preferable with a literal warrant. In many cases, well-done E2EE like Signal stops dragnets and targeted efforts. Even with a literal warrant.
No they don't, they just force the police to do regular police work and infiltrate the group the old fashioned way rather than using mass surveillance.
At the same time, an unprecedented amount of private conversation happens using phones, raising the stakes and the default expectation of privacy.
The pendulum swung from insane dragnet surveillance to widespread availability of tech that is resistant to all but the most sophisticated surveillance efforts.
Interesting times!