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Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

whispersystems.org

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Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#31

Post by StavrosK »

nardi wrote: post #25
sp332 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They claim to use SIP to establish an SRTP connection with AES-256. But I don't know any way to verify that the data is being encrypted well or sent only to the intended recipient. https://ssl.apple.com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_Security_Feb1...

> But I don't know any way to verify that the data is being encrypted well or sent only to the intended recipient. Couldn't you say the same thing about Signal? Both parties claim to use end-to-end encryption.

If you don't have a SAS phrase or some other way to aurally verify the other party, you can never be secure against a MITM. Signal does this, while I doubt it's available in FaceTime audio.

Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#32

Post by carbocation »

nardi wrote: post #20
therealmarv wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure there is no real end-to-end encryption. And you can only do that between iPhone/Mac users.

> I'm sure there is no real end-to-end encryption. "The audio/video contents of FaceTime calls are protected by end-to-end encryption, so no one but the sender and receiver can access them. Apple cannot decrypt the data." https://ssl.apple.com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_Security_Feb1... > And you can only do that between iPhone/Mac users. Ah yeah, I thought Signal was only for iPhone, based on the title. Should have re…

>This product, Signal, seems to only be for iPhones. So it's even more limited.

It appears to interoperate with RedPhone, an Android app by the same authors.

Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#34

Post by toomuchtodo »

sp332 wrote: post #8
eggbrain wrote: post #3

It's great that we have more privacy options for phone calls, texts, etc. But we still need a great "Privacy" phone, right? There's been attempts to do so recently (Blackphone, PrivacyPhone), but both have suffered from the same fault: a binary blob for the baseband, something that renders all your privacy moot. I've heard the best recommendation is a tablet + USB LTE dongle, to put some space between the two process…

It doesn't render all your privacy moot. It's limited to snooping on what you send over the radio, which is the same as what your cell carrier would have access to even with a secure baseband. (Edit: unless the baseband hacks into the software running on the other side of the radio and exfiltrates data right from your SD card... hm...) What I would like to see is a way to verify that you're connected to a legitimate…

> What I would like to see is a way to verify that you're connected to a legitimate cell tower and not an eavesdropper.

Is there a way for cell tower's to "sign" their announcements cryptographically with LTE?

Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#35

Post by jmathai »

felix wrote: post #23

Curious why this is different than RedPhone - same company, same product(?), diff't platform - why not keep app branding?

Signal is a much more neutral brand than RedPhone. RedPhone sounds either like an adult network or spying app.

At one of the Shuttleworth Foundation gatherings (where all Shuttleworth fellows meet bi-annually) I remember having a conversation about the branding of RedPhone and everyone unanimously agreed that it would hinder wider spread adoption of the software.

I'm not sure what all the factors in re-branding were but I remember Moxie agreeing with the sentiment at the time.

Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#36

Post by higherpurpose »

nardi wrote: post #20
therealmarv wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure there is no real end-to-end encryption. And you can only do that between iPhone/Mac users.

> I'm sure there is no real end-to-end encryption. "The audio/video contents of FaceTime calls are protected by end-to-end encryption, so no one but the sender and receiver can access them. Apple cannot decrypt the data." https://ssl.apple.com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_Security_Feb1... > And you can only do that between iPhone/Mac users. Ah yeah, I thought Signal was only for iPhone, based on the title. Should have re…

You don't know what you don't know - or in other words, have you seen the latest research on iOS surveillance mechanisms? There could be other "undocumented" stuff that makes the encryption of Facetime Audio irrelevant.

Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#38

Post by carbocation »

clarkm wrote: post #26

Is anyone else having trouble registering the app? I'm not receiving a SMS validation code.

I also am not receiving the SMS validation code. I'll update when I get (or don't get) the promised phone call (which comes ~4m after they think they sent the SMS). I suspect they're just overloaded by the HN spike.

Edit: The app called, offered me a code which was rejected, and refuses to Re-call me because "rate limit exceeded."

Re: Free, Worldwide, Encrypted Phone Calls for iPhone

#39

Post by higherpurpose »

13throwaway wrote: post #33

Great job guys! I'm a big fan of what whisper systems is doing. Why is this not called redphone though? Does it have different features? Edit: Looks like the article says it is part of a plan to merge redphone and textsecure.

Rebranding, plus they want to combine RedPhone and TextSecure into a single app: Signal. Since they're just now starting on iOS, no point naming it RedPhone now, just to rename it to Signal 3 months from now.
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