German police read Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp messages without breaking encryption

a month ago by schizoidman to c/technology

45 days of Signal history may be exposed by German police messaging surveillance using linked devices, Netzpolitik says. Read what the documents reveal

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/71321898

Netzpoltik details that police are able to gain access in this way either through physical access to someone’s phone or by intercepting verification codes via a state-sanctioned phishing attack or intercepting SMS messages via telephone surveillance

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peopleproblems 173 points a month ago

Interesting they highlight Signal again as though this is a vulnerability.

If someone else has access to a linked device... that's you fucking up access controls.

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skisnow -30 points a month ago

It's a vulnerability precisely because people always swarm to defend Signal in stories like this, as though using Signal means the authorities (or other bad actors) can't read your messages. Seems like every six months there's some story involving Signal users getting hacked, and every time there's a rush of wellacshuallys explaining why it wasn't really Signal's fault. (that last one is particularly egregious because I remember people defending it as "it wasn't Signal, it was their partner who they subcontracted and gave your personal data to", which is crazy levels of mental gymnastics.)

Security is more than just encryption. If you flag something up as "hey use this if you want to hide from the Government" and have a personal phone number attached to it, that's like a red rag to a bull.

(edit: LOL, it's hilarious how many people think they're making great rebuttals in the replies when all they're doing is proving my point. One child even flew directly into screaming at me. Signal fanbois are even worse than Apple supporters)

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peopleproblems 31 points a month ago

IT DOESN'T ADVERTISE ITSELF AS A SECURE PLATFORM!!!!!!

It says PRIVACY. If you are dancing ass naked inside your house but you have your windows open... guess what?

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imminent_nebula 13 points a month ago

A lot of these types use 'perfect being the enemy of good' as their attack vector. If it's not private and anonymous why bother? If you can't cut out all big tech companies, if you can't stop buying any American goods, if you can't feed all the poor or house all the homeless, etc. It's an effective way to attack progression by making people believe they should just stop fighting, they'll never win. You nailed it, Signal is private, it doesn't claim to be anything else.

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peopleproblems 2 points a month ago

You just pointed something out there that I haven't really considered. But its also the difference between abolitionists and reformists too- namely, abolition should be the goal, but don't let that stop you from making reforms too.

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