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X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

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Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#4
post #2

In a nutshell: we have unclear comments from Musk and unclear statements in the FAQ (which might not have been written by a technical person). Until they release a technical white paper, we don’t know anything for sure.

Sure we know that we should not trust anything Musk or X claims? By now? I mean, come on.

Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#5
> Currently, we do not offer protections against man-in-the-middle attacks. As a result, if someone—a malicious insider or X itself as a result of a compulsory legal process—were to compromise an encrypted conversation

I assume this means that the "encryption" is about as strong as base64.

Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#6
post #2

In a nutshell: we have unclear comments from Musk and unclear statements in the FAQ (which might not have been written by a technical person). Until they release a technical white paper, we don’t know anything for sure.

The first time I heard about this "XChat" was through a screenshot of Musk's tweet where he said it has "bitcoin style" encryption. Honestly, it was obvious just from reading that, that Musk has absolutely no idea what he's talking about when it comes to cryptography, and that nobody he has talked to on the development team has any clue either.

That doesn't mean that we know for sure that the team doesn't have cryptography experts, but ... I have my doubts. Surely we'd have heard details by now if that was the case.

(I mean "Bitcoin style"! The most important part of encrypted chat is confidentiality, and no part of Bitcoin's architecture even ATTEMPTS to ensure confidentiality! Everything's permanently stored in plaintext on the public ledger FFS!!!!)

Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#7
post #3

As a user of XChat[0] since 1999, I can tell you that it's definitely not encrypted or secure. Don't believe the hype! [0]: http://xchat.org

> Dubbed "XChat" (not to be confused with the venerable Linux/Windows IRC app of the same name)

It’s not the same XChat

Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#8

> Currently, we do not offer protections against man-in-the-middle attacks. As a result, if someone—a malicious insider or X itself as a result of a compulsory legal process—were to compromise an encrypted conversation I assume this means that the "encryption" is about as strong as base64.

I bet they're using WebSocket over HTTPS and calling that "encrypted chat" because it technically is.

Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#9
post #7
post #3

As a user of XChat[0] since 1999, I can tell you that it's definitely not encrypted or secure. Don't believe the hype! [0]: http://xchat.org

> Dubbed "XChat" (not to be confused with the venerable Linux/Windows IRC app of the same name) It’s not the same XChat

@grok is this true?

Re: X's new "encrypted" XChat feature doesn't seem to be any more secure

#10
post #7
post #3

As a user of XChat[0] since 1999, I can tell you that it's definitely not encrypted or secure. Don't believe the hype! [0]: http://xchat.org

> Dubbed "XChat" (not to be confused with the venerable Linux/Windows IRC app of the same name) It’s not the same XChat

Concerning
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