ISIS Now Has Its Own Encrypted Messaging App; Doubt They'll Abide By Politicians' Demands For Backdoors
from the just-saying... dept
As law enforcement and politicians still keep pushing American companies to backdoor encryption, making the technology less secure and more dangerous for everyone, no one has explained how this will actually help in stopping terrorists from communicating secretly. Back in December, the Open Technology Institute released a paper that detailed how so many encrypted messaging systems were either open source or not controlled by US companies. It even took a WSJ report on the messaging apps that ISIS apparently was "recommending" to people and noted how most of them are not controllable by US laws:
ISIS has a new Android app for exchanging secure messages, joining another app that distributes propaganda and recruiting material, according to a counterterrorism network called the Ghost Security Group.While the report notes that the app is "rudimentary" that doesn't mean it won't be improved over time. But, more importantly, it highlights that efforts to backdoor or undermine encryption on American companies certainly won't do a damn thing to stop ISIS from communicating securely. Yes, some will argue that ISIS' homegrown encrypted messaging apps are probably much more vulnerable to NSA cracking, but it still doesn't change the fact that demanding backdoors into US companies messaging systems won't magically lead to uncovering ISIS communications. It will just make Americans less secure.
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Filed Under: back doors, communications, encryption, going dark, isis, messaging
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Rely on Mighty Isis? That is, at best, magical thinking.
I'd much rather rely on Batman Encryption. Worst that happens is Things Blow Up, right?
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See what happens when politicians
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Re: See what happens when politicians
After all, drones looking for you, and a willingness to kill everybody in your vicinity as long as they get you is a powerful incentive for secure communications and their continuous improvement.
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Network layers principle [was Re: ]
Any protocol designer (even an undergraduate!) should find it obvious that a bespoke-encryptation protocol message may be carried over a general-distribution-encryptation layer.
If you're doing packet inspection deep enough to break through the approved-for-public-use encrypted layer, then what the fucking-fuck? The approved-for-public-use encrypted layer must not be worth a damn.
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Re: Network layers principle [was Re: ]
Eve is passively capturing the WiFi traffic.
If Eve can identify that Alice is using TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, then GOTO FAIL.
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I wish we had an agency in the government who's responsibility was code breaking so we could tackle such a problem.
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When encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption.
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Re: Re: too big to fail
The problems us little people have is that we don't think big enough, why bother with petty larceny when you can fleece the populace for billions AND get a handout from the government for doing it?
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Re: Re: Re: too big to fail
What you mean is that the government will throw a couple of hundred billion dollars of tax payers money at the problem.
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Re: Re: Re: too big to fail
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: too big to fail
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This is why we've all moved to credit and debit cards... everything can be traced now, so nobody can move money without leaving a trail for the government to follow.
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The rest is this plastic-paper mix that is still physical currency, saved right at home. Savings accounts are a joke if you're not depositing 25k in it minimum.
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Plus, if you have this backdoor, then it's possible for that toi be abused to make it much more difficult to trace, as with the root access required by governmental backdoors, root gives you near limitless power over that server.
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Anyone here?
And generally find that it has LESS BS in it??
EVEN the BBC, has better news about what the USA is doing in other countries, then WE HEAR about.
There are Many nations that have TV broadcasts, even sponsored by the USA...that have better news then we get.
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Re: Anyone here?
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Decoding ISIS app is done by
Even Congress knows that rot13 is approved by NIST for top secret files stored in Chappauqua.
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Gosh!
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When encryption is outlawed...
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well..
(You figure it out)
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Re: well..
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And that's no surprise...
The vocal politicians may not realize that is the real goal, but whomever is pulling the strings certainly does...
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Re: And that's no surprise...
My friends who all did the scan-your-msn-messenger to get your facebook friends thing back in 08-09, and was forced to do so in '10 wasn't so bad when Pidgin with OTR XMMP chat worked with facebook contacts. Now that facebook doesn't allow XMMP protocol chat anymore, it can eat a dick, and I'll never install, even in a linux crossover box, facebook messenger.
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Darn if we just had a backdoor in that encryption that kids life would be saved!!! We'd be able to read that message and come and save the day!!! HAHAHAHAHA, Ya right, Who would do such a dumb thing? These politicians think everyone is just dumb. Maybe most are as they're in office!!
Guess what, with a Warrant, in hand, shown to you, you have to Unlock your phone and let them in!!! That's the law!!! They just want to easily spy on everyone on everything looking for anything. Guilty of something or not. With NO warrant. Or some dumb abused warrant that just lets them get away with anything they want.
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There's many reasons I never bought anything after the Blackberry that came out in 2012, 1) I like real keyboards 2) A hell lot of security reasons.
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No fear
Proposed law: SNAFU-4BG&G Or Situation Normal, All Fucked Up for Bad Guys And Girls...
- Starting immediately, all individuals who plan to do anything that would hurt the feelings of a 2 year old child, or animal, or imaginary friends, or Justin Bieber shall cease all actions which involve encryption. For websites that require encryption your password must be Password123! Failure to obey the law will result in a 3 tier fine.
1st offense $25.00
2nd offense $50.00
All addition offenses will result in a fine of $75.00 and 6 hours of watching the Golden Girls.
This will surely stop all individuals with bad thoughts.
Capt ICE Enforcer
President 2020
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watching
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Bloodthirsty thugs? Yes. Lawbreakers? Why of course not!
Nonsense, clearly after mandatory backdoors in encryption are rolled out, the next step is to make it so that using non-backdoored encryption is illegal. I mean, ISIS may be a group of pathetic butchers, with a habit of killing people that disagree with their thuggery, but surely they wouldn't break the law by continuing to use illegal encryption, right?
Same with other criminals, sure they may break a few laws here and there, but if the government made using real encryption illegal, I'm sure they'd honor it, and stop there. "We may be willing to break other laws, but violating the law against encryption? That's one step too far!" would be the common response, of this I'm sure.
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Re: Bloodthirsty thugs? Yes. Lawbreakers? Why of course not!
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Re: Re: Bloodthirsty thugs? Yes. Lawbreakers? Why of course not!
I can absolutely believe that a few of those involved are just that stupid when it comes to encryption, but too many people who should absolutely know better calling for crippling a key safety feature that protects the public under the guise of 'combating crime/terrorism'? No, that I do not buy.
They aren't stupid, they're dishonest, and they're using the boogiemen to try and frighten people into undermining safety for their sake, not the sake of the public they claim their trying to 'protect'.
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