Hacker News Reader

Comment by dismalaf | Hacker News Reader

No, they're wrong. Signal is considered extremely secure, which is why journalists and government uses it. Some people like to criticize anything Trump does, right or wrong.

That being said, the Signal non-profit entity is located in the US, so probably subject to the same risks as WhatsApp and Messenger; namely US courts compelling them to share data.

View on HN

But the difference is that Signal has been architected from the start to retain much less (meta)data on the server, so that even if the Signal Foundation is compelled to share the data they have, that data will be extremely limited to the point of being mostly useless.

Thinking more in the sense of being forced to introduce a backdoor, weaken encryption, in the future which would give the US more data. Yes the encryption algorithm is theoretically very secure.

Any entity that operates in the US has to abide by US laws, after all. Probably not a concern for US citizens since they're allowed due process but creates risk for non-Americans looking for a truly secure messenger, especially if they live in a place that is currently at odds with US policy (Canada, Europe).

There are laws about this sort of thing that have severe penalties attached. When I was in the Navy handling encryption gear I had to sign a paper that stated that I understood that compromise of the secrets I'd been entrusted with could lead to the death penalty. Are you saying that shouldn't be true? Or shouldn't be true for people above a certain level?

Are you claiming that Signal running on consumer iPhone and Android devices where Pegasys and 0-days are for sale is secure?

Are you claiming that it's secure to conduct classified business on a platform where you can add anyone to the conversation without the appropriate documented approvals?

On March 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the Senate Intelligence Committee that when he became director, he was given a phone with Signal pre-loaded. He was briefed that Signal was “permissible” for work use, and “That is a practice that preceded the current administration to the Biden administration.”

It is permissible for non-classified stuff, the way you and I (and indeed, even the tightest of fed agencies) use teams.

Christ people, at work if I send some emails without encryption I would be fired. If I knowingly tried to get around records laws I would be fired.

The amount of motivated reasoning, just to excuse anything these incompetent and WILLFULLY bad at their jobs shitheads do is infuriating.

I have no idea what the US government's policy is, especially across branches. I'm not American.

I do know that the Signal algorithm is considered among the most secure, and has been considered the safest option for political dissidents, journalists, etc...

I also know some governments do use commercially available messengers (and OSes, and phones).

The CIA director also seemed to indicate that Signal was installed on all their phones.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com