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jeffw@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 24 hours ago

How the Signal Knockoff App TeleMessage Got Hacked in 20 Minutes

www.wired.com

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How the Signal Knockoff App TeleMessage Got Hacked in 20 Minutes

www.wired.com

jeffw@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 24 hours ago
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The company behind the Signal clone used by at least one Trump administration official was breached earlier this month. The hacker says they got in thanks to a basic misconfiguration.
  • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    Signal uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE). The only copies of messages are on the sender’s and recipient’s devices.

    https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320391-Is-it-private-Can-I-trust-it#%3A~%3Atext=Signal+conversations+are+always+end%2C%2C+every+call%2C+every+time.

    • Ulrich@feddit.org
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      23 hours ago

      Copies of messages are also known as archives.

      • tehsYs@discuss.tchncs.de
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        23 hours ago

        Signal does not archive messages on server side

        • Ulrich@feddit.org
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          23 hours ago

          They weren’t talking about the server:

          This app…works in almost exactly the same way as Signal, except that it also archives copies of all the messages passing through it, shattering all of its security guarantees.

          • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
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            22 hours ago

            Later in the article, it talks specifically about the server-side archives being stored in plain text. That’s why the hacker was able to access messages. This isn’t about the local copies on phones.

            • Ulrich@feddit.org
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              21 hours ago

              Yeah I didn’t read past the misinformation

              • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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                18 hours ago

                Kinda seems like you’re the misinformation.

                • Ulrich@feddit.org
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                  18 hours ago

                  You’re confused, I am not the author of this article. I did not write the statement above, just copied and pasted it here.

                  • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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                    16 hours ago

                    I’m not confused, you’re intentionally misreading what’s happening for some reason.

                    “Passing through it” pretty clearly refers to the server as that’s what was hacked into and had plain text archives.

                    You’re hyper fixating on the fact that the article says “the app” when referring to both the phone and server pieces to try and argue… something.

              • doodledup@lemmy.world
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                18 hours ago

                Maybe you should start reading up on stuff you don’t know about before adding nonsense to internet threads.

                • NekuSoul@lemmy.nekusoul.de
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                  14 hours ago

                  This is now the third post in the last 24 hours where I stumble into a needlessly long thread because this user is completely obtuse and can’t handle being wrong or a different opinion.

                • Ulrich@feddit.org
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                  17 hours ago

                  Don’t know what you mean. I didn’t add any “nonsense”. Just a direct quote from the article in question.

                  • doodledup@lemmy.world
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                    9 hours ago

                    Totally /s Can’t even read your own comments.

          • OmegaSunkey@ani.social
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            22 hours ago

            It’s why Molly has local database encryption.

            • 0xD@infosec.pub
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              22 hours ago

              That doesn’t really do anything. Attackers need local access to the device to get the database itself. Chances are, they’ll get the key right with it.

              • HappyTimeHarry@lemm.ee
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                22 hours ago

                Molly encrypts it using a passphrase instead of a locally stored key for exactly that reason.

                • 0xD@infosec.pub
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                  14 hours ago

                  The passphrase or the unencrypted database are still open in memory. Though that is, of course, a more complicated attack but they could simply read it through the app itself.

                  • HappyTimeHarry@lemm.ee
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                    12 hours ago

                    You can set it to wipe them from memory on different conditions, including instantly if youre that paranoid, sure its still possible. Its an optional feature most people wont use, but its pretty well thought out.

          • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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            22 hours ago

            The only backup option I see for Signal is through Android, but it’s optional. There is no backup support for iOS or desktop.

            https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Backup-and-Restore-Messages

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