It's not Signal's job nor their place to weaponize their users' devices without permission.
This is incredibly unethical.
This is incredibly unethical.
Signal is providing a strong, albeit rude (likely in response to Cellebrite's claims), incentive to fix their shit. Would you rather have a temporary period where transfers weren't working, or deal with the scenario above in a year?
If that were the case, fine. But the post does not specify the effect of the "aesthetically pleasing" files. They could destroy all Signal data or irreversibly harm the machine itself.
We just have to "trust" the Signal devs to not do that?
This is not how security should work.
You're trusting the Signal devs to your keep messages safe and secure. I don't know if that means wiping all messages when accessed via Cellebrite, but that seems like a reasonable option. My assumption would be that they will just crash or brick the Cellebrite software. Either way and completely independently of the aesthetically pleasing files, if you disagree with the choices Signal makes to keep your messages safe and secure, there are many other messaging options that you can use.
Publicly calling out big security problems is exactly how security should work (notwithstanding specifics of disclosure).
That's the problem. The fact nobody sees the effects of this is absolutely surreal and alarming.
If you don't know how to pay your taxes, you're still required to pay your taxes.
Their intention is to render using Cellebrite for court evidence worthless by suggesting that the record could have been tampered with at any point, if any phone the user scanned had Signal on it.
Proving that no phones ever had an 'aesthetic' file that could cause damage to Cellebrite is impossible, and they've provided clear reason why it is impossible to prove.
Did you read the text at the bottom of the post? They are randomly installing malware on users' devices to break or harm or otherwise self-destruct when Cellebrite machines read them.
I'm not speaking for myself. I would opt in personally. I'm speaking for my mother who just wants a secure and reliable line of communication with her son without being pulled into some offensive scheme that could land HER in trouble or cause damages.
If something is broken or destroyed without user knowledge or understanding or consent, you better believe Signal will see court cases.
It's entirely possible that I'm wrong and this will cause your phone to explode, but if you don't trust the Signal developers enough to assume they won't intentionally explode your phone, you probably shouldn't be using their product.