British intelligence able to read and flag private Snapchat messages • Hacker News Board

Re: British intelligence able to read and flag private Snapchat messages

#121

Post by bilekas » Fri, Feb 16, 2024, 4:42 PM UTC

KMag wrote: post #87

bilekas wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nerve they have to try and make the victim pay damages too? "We messed up, send the Spanish authorities to scramble a jet to escort the flight, but he should pay for that" The balls on these guys.

Who is the "We" in "We messed up" here? Presumably, the "We" is British intelligence, but it's Spanish prosecutors that were asking for the kid to reimburse the Spanish government for the cost of scrambling the fighter jet.

> but it's Spanish prosecutors that were asking for the kid to reimburse the Spanish government for the cost of scrambling the fighter jet

The point still stands, regardless who was asking for the reimbursement.

In fact the last person who should be expected to pay out is the victim of this incompetence. A delivery driver being sent on a prank order delivery doesn't expect the victim to pay for the order.

Re: British intelligence able to read and flag private Snapchat messages

#122

Post by redeeman » Fri, Feb 16, 2024, 4:50 PM UTC

krisoft wrote: post #29

redeeman wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean... joking about bomb threats at an airport is not "not doing anything wrong". in a private message to friends? it most definitely is. also what does airports have to do with anything? are you implying its okay to do if the target is a rural farmhouse, but not an airport?

> what does airports have to do with anything? Happy to explain. Due to previous attacks people and law enforcement around air travel are more on edge about such threats. This is because for inherent technical reasons during a flight a relatively small explosive can have devastating consequences. This is due to the pressure difference between the cabin and the atmosphere at cruise altitude , and the inherent energies…

whether law enforcement is more on edge is their problem. Either you are ACTUALLY threatening, or you're not. A joke between friends in a private channel is NOT a threat.

Re: British intelligence able to read and flag private Snapchat messages

#123

Post by KMag » Fri, Feb 16, 2024, 5:23 PM UTC

bilekas wrote: post #121

KMag wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is the "We" in "We messed up" here? Presumably, the "We" is British intelligence, but it's Spanish prosecutors that were asking for the kid to reimburse the Spanish government for the cost of scrambling the fighter jet.

> but it's Spanish prosecutors that were asking for the kid to reimburse the Spanish government for the cost of scrambling the fighter jet The point still stands, regardless who was asking for the reimbursement. In fact the last person who should be expected to pay out is the victim of this incompetence. A delivery driver being sent on a prank order delivery doesn't expect the victim to pay for the order.

I totally agree that joint failures by the British and Spanish government shouldn't be paid for by the victim. I'm just saying that there isn't any evidence that British intelligence asked for any restitution. I think they screwed up, know it, and are keeping quiet.

The Spanish prosecutors, on the other hand... shame on them for having the nerve to continue prosecution, particularly after Spanish law enforcement subjected the victim to time in jail.

Re: British intelligence able to read and flag private Snapchat messages

#124

Post by KMag » Fri, Feb 16, 2024, 5:44 PM UTC

Aerbil313 wrote: post #104

jp42 wrote: post #55

Recently read The Making of Atomic Bomb & Skunkworks. Govt puts enormous amount of money & employees best people in given area to achieve their objectives. It's hard for me to imagine govt will be ok to have tech that they can't crack, they will find a way to crack. I am not saying we should be OK with it, but I don't see a path to make it happen. It can be made difficult with E2E and other tech but not impossible.

It’s mathematically impossible to crack the technology of E2EE. But govts have all the power to coerce the companies into not using E2EE at all times and to lie that they do.

It's conjectured, but not proven, that there is no efficient algorithm on classical computers to compute discrete logarithms over elliptic curves.

Re: British intelligence able to read and flag private Snapchat messages

#125

Post by thaumasiotes » Fri, Feb 16, 2024, 7:51 PM UTC

treyd wrote: post #120

thaumasiotes wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The concept of encryption is poorly suited for live conversations with rotating members. If you don't know who you're talking to, there's no point in encrypting your message. > I was speaking of protocols that did have these properties. The method PGP uses to encrypt messages to multiple recipients will still work for whatever protocol you have in mind. Why is your dislike for PGP relevant?

That's pretty reductive, perhaps you don't have a fully connected graph of relationships in a group but other parties you do know in a group you trust to vouch for others. There's also lots of data privacy/security compliance reasons you'd want to have E2EE with large groups. I believe I heard that some larger companies wanted to investigate using MLS to encrypt internal communications, and having hundreds/thousands…

> I believe I heard that some larger companies wanted to investigate using MLS to encrypt internal communications, and having hundreds/thousands of people in a group where most don't know each other but they're all managed by an authority who doesn't want to be able to know what they're discussing.

But it's impossible for the authority to achieve that goal. If they manage the group membership, they are free to add themselves and read the discussions.