Feedback: darknet has come to mean places where you go buy drugs online, not p2p applications generally.
This is also true of the term "hacker", which is still heavily (and authentically) used
Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
21–30 of 90 posts
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#22It's ironic that this update plays up how Briar "hides metadata" when the audit found that the application deanonymizes its users by exposing DNS lookups during RSS updates.
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#23As far as the audit, I feel like 13 days is surprisingly short. I base this on my experience getting new jobs and familiarizing myself with new code bases. Maybe I'm slow.
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
They already say that about encryption in general, though.
Yes but there's also a number of existing applications of encryption that are widely deemed acceptable, like securing bank transactions and medical data. Anonymity is much harder to defend, as it doesn't have such clearly worthy purposes.
Journalism and activism under dictatorships are easy examples, if you reject it as a fundamental value/right.
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that as long as the name has that association at all, it's going to be a way to attack Briar. Darknet now: Anonymous place drugs sometimes happen Darknet if it becomes bigger: That place where terrorists and criminals hide, the FBI and NSA say it's a risk to national security and we have to stop it at all costs! What do you mean it's just a secure messaging app? I'm not a terrorist, I don't need anythi…
You could also see it the other way around, your application is not secure enough if terrorists, dissidents, drug dealers, whistleblowers and child pornographers don't feel confident to use it. Look at Tor.
From an ethical point of view building this software must be difficult. On one hand you are building something that advances technology and could be used to help free people from an oppressive government, on the other hand you are also building something that could be used (and if it works most likely will be used) to aid acts that we all agree are morally wrong.
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could also see it the other way around, your application is not secure enough if terrorists, dissidents, drug dealers, whistleblowers and child pornographers don't feel confident to use it. Look at Tor.
You could but I doubt the general public and policy makers are going to see it this way. They're still looking for a backdoor that only the "good guys" can access.
Once again proving that they dont know how any of this works. And still getting re-elected
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#27I downloaded the beta and installed it, but I guess I need to physically find a friend who also installed it. I'm not in Silicon Valley, so I doubt that will happen soon....
Just leave USB stick somewhere in Nsk and I will catch it.
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes but there's also a number of existing applications of encryption that are widely deemed acceptable, like securing bank transactions and medical data. Anonymity is much harder to defend, as it doesn't have such clearly worthy purposes.
Journalism and activism under dictatorships are easy examples, if you reject it as a fundamental value/right.
Yeah, but no governemt is lucky with having people operate entirely freely. It makes corruption difficult, and every government has corruption to some degree
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could also see it the other way around, your application is not secure enough if terrorists, dissidents, drug dealers, whistleblowers and child pornographers don't feel confident to use it. Look at Tor.
From an ethical point of view building this software must be difficult. On one hand you are building something that advances technology and could be used to help free people from an oppressive government, on the other hand you are also building something that could be used (and if it works most likely will be used) to aid acts that we all agree are morally wrong.
Ah, the essential ethical dilemma of building encryption software, polaroid cameras, and kitchen knives.
Re: Darknet Messenger Briar Releases Beta, Passes Security Audit
#30As far as the audit, I feel like 13 days is surprisingly short. I base this on my experience getting new jobs and familiarizing myself with new code bases. Maybe I'm slow.
13 days (let's call it two weeks, assuming full person/weeks of time) is not atypical for an assessment. If you have multiple people working simultaneously on a two week assessment, you can "comfortably" assess fairly complex applications.
What is surprising to me is that so little of that time was devoted to cryptography. For a secure messenger that time should be ratcheted up a bit (though the security infrastructure and general software implementation stuff is also very important).