Whatsapp backdoor

@droopy - your skills are outstanding and you deserve a high level of appreciation. Top of Class!

@droopy - your skills are outstanding and you deserve a high level of appreciation. Top of Class!

…. coincidentally, a few days ago someone else was particularly appreciated

http//press-release.levchinprize.com/

January 4, 2017
…
Moxie Marlinspike and Trevor Perrin are awarded their 2017 Levchin Prize for their development of the Signal protocol used to encrypt messages in communication systems. This protocol has been implemented into well known apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Google Allo, encrypting the conversations of more than a billion people worldwide. The Signal protocol uses triple Diffie-Hellman, and a double ratchet mechanism to provide strong forward-secrecy. It is this massive deployment of an elegant encryption protocol for which Moxie and Trevor are awarded the Levchin prize.
…

Life stinks.

jaclaz

Prizes are marketing my friend.
Remember 2009 Nobel Prize to OBAMA (US President) and then he attack afganistan and kill millions of innocents )

Prizes are marketing my friend.
Remember 2009 Nobel Prize to OBAMA (US President) and then he attack afganistan and kill millions of innocents )

I didn't realise he/they/us attacked Afghanistan I thought it was the Taliban that was attacked.

I also wasn't aware of Millions of civilian deaths - this research suggest a few 10's of thousands

http//watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/afghan

Even Al Jazeera says it is thousands - and interestingly shows that a significant number are killed by the Afghan airforce

http//www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/afghanistan-surge-civilian-children-death-tolls-160725063051899.html

Either way it is still too many - although we do put an extraordinary amount of effort (and cost) into avoiding civilian casualties.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story though Droopy )

I cannot believe noone posted a link to this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n31fogbmQTg

I believe we need to add Falken's Maze and Mr. Potato Head to the timeline.

I cannot believe noone posted a link to this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n31fogbmQTg

I believe we need to add Falken's Maze and Mr. Potato Head to the timeline.

Naah, that is old news, here are some more current ones
http//arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/01/whos-winning-the-cyber-war-the-squirrels-of-course/

To "counteract the ludicrousness of cyberwar claims by people at high levels in government and industry," Thomas said, he launched CyberSquirrel1.

jaclaz

Naah, that is old news, here are some more current ones
http//arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/01/whos-winning-the-cyber-war-the-squirrels-of-course/

To "counteract the ludicrousness of cyberwar claims by people at high levels in government and industry," Thomas said, he launched CyberSquirrel1.

jaclaz

Are all hacker conventions now heading south to CCC lands?

This is essentially [what happened with] Iraq, and we're now applying it to cyber and equating cyber to nukes and [mutual assured destruction]. It really doesn't work that way."

It has worked that way for decades. The field is left to squirrels by means of deterrence. We struggle to keep it that way, that's the news.

And now, for no apparent reason wink
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/20/security-researchers-call-for-guardian-to-retract-false-whatsapp-backdoor-story/

Security researchers call for Guardian to retract false WhatsApp “backdoor” story

A thirty-strong group of security researchers have co-signed an open letter calling for the Guardian to retract a story it published last week that had claimed mobile messaging app WhatsApp contains a “backdoor”.

jaclaz

Probably Facebook paid them )

Whatsapp PLAIN source code (by reverse engineering) shows weak implementation.
Whatsapp server could DISABLE encryption when necessary.
Code share on demand )

Probably Facebook paid them )

Whatsapp PLAIN source code (by reverse engineering) shows weak implementation.
Whatsapp server could DISABLE encryption when necessary.
Code share on demand )

The general consensus is that it isn't a backdoor

But, I imagine a few descriptive papers and video evidence showing the backdoor may persuade people otherwise