News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by Legogris on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @08:23AM (#26490063)
I recall LINE having indicators similar to WhatsApp for conversations stating that they were end-to-end encrypted - was that all a complete lie? Or are there side-channels enough that it's technically true but practically meaningless?

Also, for anyone who doesn't know, LINE is ubiquitous in East Asia and parts of South East Asia. In Japan and Korea, everyone and their grandmother are there. Not being on LINE here is "worse" than not being on FB in the west.

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by wodenokoto on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @08:45AM (#26490289)
According to the other story on the front page earlier today about this, the messages are encrypted but the firm had access to user information - name, email phone number. That kind of stuff.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26488445

On a different note: Has KakaoTalk gone out of fashion in korea? I thought line was mostly Japan and Taiwan and korea was KakaoTalk, China WeChat and everywhere else WhatsApp.

But I have noticed line appearing in some never kdramas.

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by viceroyalbean on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @11:14AM (#26492355)
LINE has never had any significant market share in Korea, it's 100% Kakaotalk. LINE does have a large amount of development going on in Korea, however.
Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by Agentlien on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @02:17PM (#26494929)
That's interesting. I recently noticed LINE showing up in a number of Korean shows on Netflix and I wondered how popular it was over there.
Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by viceroyalbean on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @09:21PM (#26498829)
I wonder if it's actually an indication of how unknown it is. Korean media is usually very precise with showing brands - if you can see a logo it's almost definitely product placement. Using a relatively unknown app allows them to avoid showing something recognizable.

This is just an idea though, I have no real basis for the claim. I have noticed the same thing, though.

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by wodenokoto on Friday March 19, 2021 @03:31AM (#26510818)
They prominently displayed the line characters, Brown and Cony in a message chat between the two main characters in 2015s "Hyde Jekyll Me" on Netflix.

I doubt you'd do that as a mean to show a generic chat. I think that is more of an attempt to make inroads in Korea (or perhaps pandering to viewers outside Korea)

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by Legogris on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @09:17AM (#26490728)
It's a couple of years since I spent extended time there, but if there's anything I know it's that Koreans move fast, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm slightly off there.

It's absolutely the case in Japan, though.

LINE is bigger than WhatsApp in Taiwan and I think Thailand, though.

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by philliphaydon on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @09:52AM (#26491225)
I’ve never met anyone in Thailand or Taiwan who don’t use LINE.

It’s also my primary messaging app. What’s App is only used for business stuff in Singapore.

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by goatinaboat on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @09:38AM (#26491026)
I recall LINE having indicators similar to WhatsApp for conversations stating that they were end-to-end encrypted - was that all a complete lie? Or are there side-channels enough that it's technically true but practically meaningless?

The metadata - who talks to who and when - in many cases is more valuable to an adversary than the actual content of the messages. All the crypto in the world doesn't help once the identity of one person you associate with becomes "of interest" you are of interest too and old-fashioned methods can be used.

Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by fomine3 on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @08:08PM (#26498362)
Messages are E2E encrypted by default. When a user reported abuse, messages are sent to LINE corp without E2E encryption so their employee or contracted company can read only reported message
Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by shantara on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @11:26AM (#26492538)
End-to-end encryption doesn't matter, if the app itself is backdoored.
Re:Line app allowed Chinese firm to access personal user data by deepstack on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @08:37AM (#26490180)
icons!