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Briar Desktop for Linux

briarproject.org

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Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#11

Post by pulse7 »

dingdingdang wrote: post #2

Since I needed brief intro myself, Wikipedia says: "The initial target audience for Briar includes "activists, journalists and civil society" with plans to make the system "simple enough to help anyone keep their data safe." As the ability to function in the absence of internet infrastructure may also make the project valuable to disaster response and aid organisations, the developers are working with the Open Humani…

Who can guarantee me that this isn't built by some national security agency with some tiny, hidden backdoors?

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#12

Post by mobilemidget »

dingdingdang wrote: post #2

Since I needed brief intro myself, Wikipedia says: "The initial target audience for Briar includes "activists, journalists and civil society" with plans to make the system "simple enough to help anyone keep their data safe." As the ability to function in the absence of internet infrastructure may also make the project valuable to disaster response and aid organisations, the developers are working with the Open Humani…

is there already some compare available that shows differences with other messengers like Telegram or Signal?

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#13

Post by grote »

pulse7 wrote: post #11
dingdingdang wrote: post #2

Since I needed brief intro myself, Wikipedia says: "The initial target audience for Briar includes "activists, journalists and civil society" with plans to make the system "simple enough to help anyone keep their data safe." As the ability to function in the absence of internet infrastructure may also make the project valuable to disaster response and aid organisations, the developers are working with the Open Humani…

Who can guarantee me that this isn't built by some national security agency with some tiny, hidden backdoors?

No one can, but isn't that the case for all software?

At least it is Free Software with reproducible builds, so you can audit the shit out of it.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#14

Post by efficax »

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that there's nothing about this that is any better than pgp emails, and i'm not sure i understand why these forms of communication are flourishing when they seem to offer little real protection against a motivated state adversary who doesn't need to attack the system if they can just ask someone for the keys

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#15

Post by tapoxi »

efficax wrote: post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

At least for my family members, they switched to Signal because they don't trust Facebook and Google abandons their products after a few years.

iMessage isn't an option because half of the family is on Android.

If a motivated state actor wants pictures of my baby niece then I guess they're welcome to it.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#16

Post by mburee »

grote wrote: post #13
pulse7 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who can guarantee me that this isn't built by some national security agency with some tiny, hidden backdoors?

No one can, but isn't that the case for all software? At least it is Free Software with reproducible builds, so you can audit the shit out of it.

I totally agree, but no one ever pays the money to have it properly audited

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#17

Post by PragmaticPulp »

efficax wrote: post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

> People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds.

If the counterpart can see something with their own eyes (or a screenshot) then how would you even expect to protect against this?

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#18

Post by anjbe »

efficax wrote: post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

Signal’s primary defense against that is disappearing messages. Beyond that, what can you really do against what is essentially an untrusted endpoint? Education and awareness, and hope that it sticks.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#19

Post by ben-schaaf »

efficax wrote: post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

> that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received

This has always been the case for any form of communication, verbal or otherwise. You're always trusting that the people you're talking to don't share your conversation if you don't wish it to be shared. This is a inherent to communication, not anything technology can possibly fix.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#20

Post by hnlmorg »

efficax wrote: post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

The only reliable security you can implement here is not to send the message in the first place
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