Yahoo's new killer app • Hacker News Board

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#21

Post by junto » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:03 PM UTC

junto wrote: post #16

paulormg wrote: post #14

Hey Junto, I suggest you put a date on the post, something like "Aug 09th, 2015", so people can understand more easily it's a fictitious post. But the idea is awesome! I hope it can get to Marissa or some other visionary executive/entrepreneur to make something like this a reality in the years to come.

Sadly, Medium doesn't seems to let me change it. I already looked. If their is anyone from Medium.com reading, feel free to tweak the date in your db!

I've just added it inline. Not quite as good but better than nothing.

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#22

Post by wusatiuk » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:04 PM UTC

junto wrote: post #13

tonybaroneee wrote: post #9

This is indeed an article from the future! (notice how it says "Two years ago Edward Snowden released..."). It is basically saying that Yahoo has a serious opportunity on their hands if they want to disrupt email right now.

Indeed, it is just a serious opportunity for them to become relevant again.

but not only Yahoo, also other could jump on the train now... it is not a matter of $ in the beginning, it is a matter of conception.

@junto it took me some minutes to understand the article, thanks for this awesome piece of content.

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#23

Post by paulormg » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:05 PM UTC

junto wrote: post #16

paulormg wrote: post #14

Hey Junto, I suggest you put a date on the post, something like "Aug 09th, 2015", so people can understand more easily it's a fictitious post. But the idea is awesome! I hope it can get to Marissa or some other visionary executive/entrepreneur to make something like this a reality in the years to come.

Sadly, Medium doesn't seems to let me change it. I already looked. If their is anyone from Medium.com reading, feel free to tweak the date in your db!

hmm.. maybe place it hard-coded in the text somewhere. it may affect aesthetics but will enhance understanding. :-)

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#24

Post by rorrr2 » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:06 PM UTC

If anybody develops a truly secure messaging system, free from NSA's snooping, it won't be Yahoo. Simply because Yahoo is US based and can be secretly forced to change the code or push a hidden update that will decrypt everything.

And by the way, such systems already exist

1) https://crypto.cat (after a few bad releases it looks like they got it right... probably)

2) https://github.com/ChatSecure for iOS

There are a few more:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging#Nativ...

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#25

Post by trebor » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:10 PM UTC

rorrr2 wrote: post #24

If anybody develops a truly secure messaging system, free from NSA's snooping, it won't be Yahoo. Simply because Yahoo is US based and can be secretly forced to change the code or push a hidden update that will decrypt everything. And by the way, such systems already exist 1) https://crypto.cat (after a few bad releases it looks like they got it right... probably) 2) https://github.com/ChatSecure for iOS There are a…

They can be forced to change their code, affecting their endpoints, and acting as a wiretap yes. But in the OP's view he said it was an Open Source protocol, which wouldn't get a lot of "forced/secret patches" because it's too easy to see.

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#26

Post by junto » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:10 PM UTC

rorrr2 wrote: post #24

If anybody develops a truly secure messaging system, free from NSA's snooping, it won't be Yahoo. Simply because Yahoo is US based and can be secretly forced to change the code or push a hidden update that will decrypt everything. And by the way, such systems already exist 1) https://crypto.cat (after a few bad releases it looks like they got it right... probably) 2) https://github.com/ChatSecure for iOS There are a…

That's why it would need to be open source and available for any security researcher to go looking around.

The reason I chose Yahoo, was that they have the marketing clout and the brand to pull this off. This needs to be something that really replaces email, and kicks in into obscurity. Otherwise it is just another hacker tool used by a minority of privacy conscious geeks like us.

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#27

Post by trebor » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:11 PM UTC

macinjosh wrote: post #10

Trusting coporations with our private communications has been disastrous so far. Perhaps we should find ways to take out the middle man and communicate more directly. P2P or federation perhaps?

That hasn't worked out so well for the Jabber protocol so far, and its federated. We probably need something simpler with OTR built into it.

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#28

Post by JonFish85 » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:15 PM UTC

This is silly. If I'm a shareholder in Y!, I don't want them wasting time/money on something like this right now. Honestly, the majority of the population doesn't care about the government email tracking or what-have-you. A very vocal minority seems to care, for now, but your average accountant / builder probably didn't spend 5 minutes caring. If Y! did do something like this, I doubt it would last--just not enough people care to make it profitable.

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#29

Post by susi22 » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:15 PM UTC

rorrr2 wrote: post #24

If anybody develops a truly secure messaging system, free from NSA's snooping, it won't be Yahoo. Simply because Yahoo is US based and can be secretly forced to change the code or push a hidden update that will decrypt everything. And by the way, such systems already exist 1) https://crypto.cat (after a few bad releases it looks like they got it right... probably) 2) https://github.com/ChatSecure for iOS There are a…

Serious question: Could they build their IT center on big boats like casinos?

Sure, the traffic would still go through US, but that can be encrypted (with something better than SSL).

Re: Yahoo's new killer app

#30

Post by junto » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 2:17 PM UTC

susi22 wrote: post #29

rorrr2 wrote: post #24

If anybody develops a truly secure messaging system, free from NSA's snooping, it won't be Yahoo. Simply because Yahoo is US based and can be secretly forced to change the code or push a hidden update that will decrypt everything. And by the way, such systems already exist 1) https://crypto.cat (after a few bad releases it looks like they got it right... probably) 2) https://github.com/ChatSecure for iOS There are a…

Serious question: Could they build their IT center on big boats like casinos? Sure, the traffic would still go through US, but that can be encrypted (with something better than SSL).

How do you power the data centre?