Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 130 posts

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#71

Post by utnick »

tptacek wrote: post #59
darkhorn wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The communication with the server is encrypted, if you use the official apps. If you use secret chat they are not stored as plain text on the servers and you can make them auto destroy. Also you can delete your chat history. But it is better than WhatsApp because it is not part of governmental control.

Totally bogus. TextSecure-enabled WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted using a widely-respected cryptographic messaging scheme. Telegram isn't. The point of serious end-to-end encryption is that it doesn't matter who runs the servers . TextSecure-enabled WhatsApp beats Telegram on a pure engineering level; we don't even need to reach politics to prefer it.

Whatsapp right now hides all of the encryption from the user, doesnt have a way to do key verification, so its trivial for the whatsapp server to do a Mitm on your conversations. I know they are working on that and I fully expect whatsapp to be the best messenger out after they are finished. But right now, by an objective measure, it would seem like telegram is more secure

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#72

Post by valar_m »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #42
valar_m wrote: post #33

During the standoff with the SWAT team, which took place soon after, he wouldn’t answer the door. They went home after an hour. Wait, what? Is that what police in Russia normally do? This would never, ever happen in the United States. LAPD actually even has a "Wrong Doors Unit" which goes around repairing broken down doors when the cops raid the wrong address.[0] [0] http://www.dailynews.com/20080316/repairs-help-reb…

In Russia cops can't enter your home unless they suspect some crime to be carried right this moment or have a court order. You have to open door for them. However I'm not a lawyer and that might not be valid anymore.

I should have been more clear -- The article doesn't say, but I was assuming that the SWAT team was there to execute a search warrant. Perhaps they did not and that's why they didn't force entry, but the SWAT team showing up without a search warrant makes even less sense to me.

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#73

Post by darkhorn »

alex_sf wrote: post #63
darkhorn wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice try NSA, nice try! I use Telegram, which is not related with country I live and the USA. Also I use Babel when I'm out of internet.

Do you realize who you're replying to?

Yes, to the/a guy who is developing a security application which works only with Android. But can you tell me how can you communicate over TextSecure when your friends are using iOS. Also how can you be so sure about your privacy when TextSecure is located/developed at the USA?http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_WhisperSystems

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#74

Post by npinguy »

michaelhealy wrote: post #6

Pavel seems to be a great person, building a gift to society & mankind. He puts the users/people before himself, stands behind their rights and believes in strong ideals such as freedom of speech and privacy. I don't think you can say the same about many other internet companies/services. If you look at his previous company VK. It is by far a superior experience to Facebook, given how intuitive, fast and sleek it is.…

Are you insane? VK has horrendous UX (best and simplest example: Browsing through image galleries resizes the image viewer so that the next and previous buttons constantly move)

And they call it a Facebook clone because it was a direct copy of the Facebook UI, and while Facebook has innovated and polished, VK has been stuck in the same decade-old look and feel.

It may be faster to use in Russia because of geographical proxmity, but I assure you it is nowhere near as Facebook is from North America.

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#75

Post by tlear »

valar_m wrote: post #72
guard-of-terra wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Russia cops can't enter your home unless they suspect some crime to be carried right this moment or have a court order. You have to open door for them. However I'm not a lawyer and that might not be valid anymore.

I should have been more clear -- The article doesn't say, but I was assuming that the SWAT team was there to execute a search warrant. Perhaps they did not and that's why they didn't force entry, but the SWAT team showing up without a search warrant makes even less sense to me.

It was a threat, they were letting him know that his time in Russia was coming to an end. He took the hint and bailed before he got into an "accident"

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#76

Post by darkhorn »

tptacek wrote: post #59
darkhorn wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The communication with the server is encrypted, if you use the official apps. If you use secret chat they are not stored as plain text on the servers and you can make them auto destroy. Also you can delete your chat history. But it is better than WhatsApp because it is not part of governmental control.

Totally bogus. TextSecure-enabled WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted using a widely-respected cryptographic messaging scheme. Telegram isn't. The point of serious end-to-end encryption is that it doesn't matter who runs the servers . TextSecure-enabled WhatsApp beats Telegram on a pure engineering level; we don't even need to reach politics to prefer it.

It is not all that. Lets say you are planning the next protests with your friends over WhatsApp using TextSecure. The security agencies cannot view your message content but they can view whom you are talking with with a warrant which will show you that you are a terrorist. Now try to explain why you encrypt your messages if you are not a terrotist. Oh, you are polititian with wife and texting secretly to this woman... Explain it to the public.

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#77

Post by darkhorn »

vertex-four wrote: post #58
darkhorn wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The communication with the server is encrypted, if you use the official apps. If you use secret chat they are not stored as plain text on the servers and you can make them auto destroy. Also you can delete your chat history. But it is better than WhatsApp because it is not part of governmental control.

> it is not part of governmental control Isn't that a pretty dangerous assertion in itself? It's a private company running private servers that you have no control over and no ability to tell whether or not an external entity has accessed your data.

Whom should I be afraid of? A private company who or my government?

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#78

Post by valar_m »

V-2 wrote: post #45
valar_m wrote: post #33

During the standoff with the SWAT team, which took place soon after, he wouldn’t answer the door. They went home after an hour. Wait, what? Is that what police in Russia normally do? This would never, ever happen in the United States. LAPD actually even has a "Wrong Doors Unit" which goes around repairing broken down doors when the cops raid the wrong address.[0] [0] http://www.dailynews.com/20080316/repairs-help-reb…

You are judging it by Western standards. They may have nothing on him and don't actually mean to arrest him etc., it's just intimidation tactics

Yeah it definitely sounded like an intimidation attempt, though a rather ill-conceived one. If they had a search warrant, it seems odd to me that they chose not to force entry.

If they didn't have a warrant, I would think they would have a plan if consent was not given to enter -- getting punked out when intimidation was your goal is a pretty embarrassing result.

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#79

Post by the_af »

V-2 wrote: post #45
valar_m wrote: post #33

During the standoff with the SWAT team, which took place soon after, he wouldn’t answer the door. They went home after an hour. Wait, what? Is that what police in Russia normally do? This would never, ever happen in the United States. LAPD actually even has a "Wrong Doors Unit" which goes around repairing broken down doors when the cops raid the wrong address.[0] [0] http://www.dailynews.com/20080316/repairs-help-reb…

You are judging it by Western standards. They may have nothing on him and don't actually mean to arrest him etc., it's just intimidation tactics

At least in some Western countries, the standards are to break the door down anyway, and maybe hold him at gunpoint (see: http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Warrior-Cop-Militarization-Americ...)

Re: Once Celebrated in Russia, Programmer Pavel Durov Chooses Exile

#80

Post by [deleted] »

darkhorn wrote: post #73
alex_sf wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you realize who you're replying to?

Yes, to the/a guy who is developing a security application which works only with Android. But can you tell me how can you communicate over TextSecure when your friends are using iOS. Also how can you be so sure about your privacy when TextSecure is located/developed at the USA? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_WhisperSystems

[deleted]
Post reply on HN