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Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

micahflee.com

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Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#261

Post by arandomusername »

woodruffw wrote: post #201
like_any_other wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think it's that big: USG procures defense and intelligence tech more or less constantly from Israel. It's unlikely that Israel would threaten that relationship (and the value they extract from it in terms of favorable relations) in exchange for military intelligence that's already shared with them. Correct - they would not use that intelligence to threaten that relationship, but to maintain it. Knowing the…

The over/under there doesn't make sense: the US hasn't had a meaningfully hostile-to-Israel policy ever , so pervasively tapping some of the most sensitive USG communications would be a stunning risk to take with a very safe ally. (It also beggars belief in the current climate -- I would be hard-pressed to name a single member of the current administration who hasn't yelled until purple in the face about their suppor…

The most "hostile to Israel" policy was under JFK, which is interesting.

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#262

Post by myvoiceismypass »

matsemann wrote: post #256
dang wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43890179 for discussion of whether that article should count as a follow-up or SNI. Normally I wouldn't link to meta discussion but this was such a weird borderline case that I spent over an hour trying to figure it out. Maybe that makes it interesting. Edit: in case anyone's confused about the sequence here, micahflee posted the current thread 2 days ago. The timestamp a…

FWIW, I never clicked into this when I originally saw it because I'm not that interested in a "technical analysis", but gained interest when the other title said that the app was hacked. To me, that's worth discussing, but here that lede is a bit buried. And I now only know about it because a friend sent me the link. I do feel there's a pattern of me reading some interesting tech news, then thinking "wait, why didn't…

I have recently switched to the “active threads” feed which shows flagged content: https://news.ycombinator.com/active

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#263

Post by [deleted] »

namdnay wrote: post #111
macrolime wrote: post #101

So this whole app exists because Signal doesn't have a way to archive messages on iPhone. Maybe they should take the hint and see that this is actually something a lot of people would find useful, instead of keeping it the backlog for a decade.

It's not a question of archiving on the device - it's a question of your employer being able to archive/monitor your conversations

[deleted]

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#265

Post by aucisson_masque »

woodruffw wrote: post #161
mdhb wrote: post #3

The big part of this story which nobody is talking about is the fact that the app is literally controlled by a bunch of “former” Israeli intelligence officers. Who now have what is arguably the worlds most valuable access out of anyone.

I don't think it's that big: USG procures defense and intelligence tech more or less constantly from Israel. It's unlikely that Israel would threaten that relationship (and the value they extract from it in terms of favorable relations) in exchange for military intelligence that's already shared with them. (I feel like I have to say this in every thread that insinuates something sinister about being a "former Israeli…

Israël have different interest than the usa.

Today they may collide in most instances, who's to say tomorrow it will still be the case. For instance when Iran gets the nuclear bomb and threaten Israel with it ?

An encrypted messaging system, used by the American government, is in my opinion even worst than the supposed Huawei 5g antenna data collection.

Huawei wouldn't have had access to secret talk between top government official, at least not decrypted.

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#266

Post by icedchai »

watusername wrote: post #163
namdnay wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The scariest part? They also sell to corporations... Read their install guide and weep at the idea of pushing cracked WhatsApp binaires through MDM https://smarsh.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#30000001FgxH/a/Pb000...

> cracked WhatsApp binaries On a more meta note, I wonder who even works at companies founded on ideas that are just... bad. On average, I expect good engineers to push back on such business requirements and also have better job mobility so they can leave and work elsewhere. The researcher found the vulnerabilities "in less than 30 minutes" so it seems there's some lack of competence here. Unfortunately, misguided bu…

People generally need jobs, and some of these jobs aren't so good. Not everyone is talented enough to work at the next hot startup building a frontend to ChatGPT.

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#267

Post by arandomusername »

uxp100 wrote: post #9
harrisrobin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Israel’s grip on DC’s balls is far too strong I more or less agree. > We’re literally an occupied nation The language of the US under occupation is a neonazi talking point, ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government) being a phrase neonazi morons like. Maybe a coincidence.

[flagged]

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#268

Post by woodruffw »

arandomusername wrote: post #261
woodruffw wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The over/under there doesn't make sense: the US hasn't had a meaningfully hostile-to-Israel policy ever , so pervasively tapping some of the most sensitive USG communications would be a stunning risk to take with a very safe ally. (It also beggars belief in the current climate -- I would be hard-pressed to name a single member of the current administration who hasn't yelled until purple in the face about their suppor…

The most "hostile to Israel" policy was under JFK, which is interesting.

Yep. In general there's been no truly "hostile to Israel" US president. The closest thing to "hostility" has been negotiating (under JFK, Carter, Bush Sr., and Obama most notably) with regards to one or more of Iran, the '67 border, WB settlements, etc. Israel has increasingly (and wrongly) considered these "meddling" under its far-right government, which is a internal change within their own politics rather than a marked change in the US's own tactics.

Re: Technical analysis of the Signal clone used by Trump officials

#270

Post by Weetile »

mmooss wrote: post #253

Is Signal allowing arbitrary apps to connect to its network? How do I know that my correspondent is using TM Sgnl or another unofficial app? Doesn't that break Signal's security guarantees? For example, what if I set my message to delete in 1 hour but TM Sgnl archives it, or some other app simply ignores the retention setting? If Signal allows it, it seems like a major vulnerability? I suppose I must trust other user…

The question is - how do you intend to verify whether an application is official or unofficial? What's stopping the official application to be 'patched' with a fake signature feigning validity?
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