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Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

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Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#111
post #52

Would this hole allow him to decrypt chat text?

no, but it allows server to decrypt it. Government in case of the need can "ask" them to forward your chat and they will do it, but it was stated in their PR that server is unable to decrypt your messages.

Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#114

This is my first comment on the Telegram bruhaha. Sometimes, I get embarrassed by what I experience here on HN. The gang up, the unnecessary pride. To those saying RIP, Telegram will succeed. Without using it (I use a Blackberry), it looks to be top two of the chat apps when you combine usability/security. I will download it once I get an Android phone in January. I will not wish failure on anyone that is confident i…

[deleted]

Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#115

This is my first comment on the Telegram bruhaha. Sometimes, I get embarrassed by what I experience here on HN. The gang up, the unnecessary pride. To those saying RIP, Telegram will succeed. Without using it (I use a Blackberry), it looks to be top two of the chat apps when you combine usability/security. I will download it once I get an Android phone in January. I will not wish failure on anyone that is confident i…

> To those saying RIP, Telegram will succeed. Without using it (I use a Blackberry), it looks to be top two of the chat apps when you combine usability/security. I will download it once I get an Android phone in January.

But it is not secure! That's the entire point.

Never mind "not secure against a well funded government agency", it's not secure against other attackers.

There are lots of usable chat apps that do not give you the illusion of security.

> and not looking to takeout anyone who has a different approach.

You seem to be mistaken about why they do this. It's nothing to do with pushing their app or their approach. They'd welcome good well-formed apps to compete with them. But when they see an app that claims to be secure they have an ethical duty to let people know if it is obviously not secure.

Most people are not bashing just for the sake of bashing. Some people need good cryptography software to avoid imprisonment, or torture, or state-killing. This isn't about stopping someone's teen-angsty poetry from being discovered by a sibling, it's about protecting political dissidents from an oppressive regime. In that context pointing out that a software is broken is not mindless bashing, it is a crucial part of the cryptography process.

(I'll accept that a few people are missing the mark with their criticisms.)

Pointing out flawed crypto software is part of a long tradition going back many years. It's part of the culture. Most cryptographer will start by analysing other software and finding flaws before implementing their own software.

Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#116

This is my first comment on the Telegram bruhaha. Sometimes, I get embarrassed by what I experience here on HN. The gang up, the unnecessary pride. To those saying RIP, Telegram will succeed. Without using it (I use a Blackberry), it looks to be top two of the chat apps when you combine usability/security. I will download it once I get an Android phone in January. I will not wish failure on anyone that is confident i…

Telegram is making ridiculous claims that have the potential to hurt their customers. They are lying and/or incompetent. They absolutely deserve to be made fun of.

Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#117
post #41

Here are some of their comments: ibeatle Большое спасибо, автор поста полностью прав. Со своей стороны хотим пояснить, что сделано это было из лучших побуждений: исправление плохого рандома на клиентах. С настоящего момента в nonce всегда будет приходить ноль, и в следующем слое мы обязательно удалим это поле из схемы и поясним в документации. Автор топика безусловно заслужил награды, просьба обратиться хабраюзера x7…

The criticism was mostly very well founded. Just because you don't understand it, that does not mean that it is unfounded. Just because a civil engineer only tells you that a newly built bridge will collapse in about 30 years due to corrosion and then a day later someone points out that you can make it fall down right now by parking trucks on it from end to end, that does not mean that the warning of the civil engineer was unfounded, it simply means that she pointed out a different weakness, and possibly one that you lack the knowledge to tell whether it is reasonable or not.

Or in short: We don't generally consider things safe until they collapse/explode/poison/... and people are actually dead. When an expert understands that something is not safe anymore for reasons that you don't understand, that still is a well-founded reason for considering it unsafe.

Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#118
post #94
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never forget. RIP Telegram (2013-2013). This whole thing has been interesting to follow because it seems this same thing happens every time someone make macho Crypto-claims. From seeing how confident the Telegram team was to reading all the detractors who were so ready to criticize. It's an interesting dynamic in the Crypto community.

Hate tone discussion makes me sad. Telegram is very young project and it has bugs for sure. Some guy found potential issue in protocol and developers committed to fix it soon. There is no information that any messages were revealed due to this bug but Telegram should go away and developers should do something else. Whatsapp is less secure then Telegram but I have not seed “Whatsapp RIP” messages. Not so hard to save…

> Whatsapp is less secure then Telegram

Whatsapp never claimed to keep your chat secure. Telegram did. Many people offered gentle advice to Telegram, and they ignored it.

Maybe it's a cultural thing? Not just domains-of-expertise (mathematicians going into crypto) but international?

Re: Telegram protocol defeated. Authors are going to modify crypto-algorithm

#120

This is my first comment on the Telegram bruhaha. Sometimes, I get embarrassed by what I experience here on HN. The gang up, the unnecessary pride. To those saying RIP, Telegram will succeed. Without using it (I use a Blackberry), it looks to be top two of the chat apps when you combine usability/security. I will download it once I get an Android phone in January. I will not wish failure on anyone that is confident i…

  he would have been much more humble if his attackers toned 
  it down a notch.
Conversely you can argue that the 'attackers' would have toned it down a notch if Telegram had been more humble and receptive of the comments. The initial comments were quite civil and they were just dismissed.

  looking to takeout anyone who has a different approach.
It's not just a 'different' approach. It's an approach that's likely to be dangerously flawed, as just demonstrated. It's unfortunate that the people involved have a 'rival' product and they could do with pointing to it a bit less, but it doesn't make any of the criticisms less valid. Painting them as 'politics' is just slander.
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