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Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by todd3834 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @01:32AM (#26708229)
Is it really surprising that he would have all of the most popular messaging apps? Facebook’s playbook of copying popular features from apps gaining traction is by no means a secret.

I’m not totally convinced by the narrative that Mark doesn’t trust his own tools so he prefers Signal.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by deadmutex on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @02:07AM (#26708469)
Yeah, it is likely that he was just checking up on the competition. I wouldn't be surprised if turned the narrative on this by saying something like the following:

"I was curious to check it out.. it wasn't very good, so I reverted back to Messenger/Whatsapp."

IIRC, he made similar comments when he was spotted using G+.

Disclaimer: My views are my own (and not necessarily shared by my employers).

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by uoaei on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @02:38AM (#26708700)
It doesn't seem like you are aware that WhatsApp hired Moxie Marlinspike, the creator of the Signal encryption protocol, to re-implement it for WhatsApp. AFAIK it is still used in WhatsApp today.

I will take this moment also to mention that "re-implement" isn't exactly right in that they modified the protocol slightly to allow for someone in control of the administration server to change a user's private key without their knowing, so that the admin can decrypt the E2E communications using the known key.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by 7a1c9427 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @03:39AM (#26709148)
> I will take this moment also to mention that "re-implement" isn't exactly right in that they modified the protocol slightly to allow for someone in control of the administration server to change a user's private key without their knowing, so that the admin can decrypt the E2E communications using the known key.

Do you have a source for that claim?

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by lxgr on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @06:19AM (#26710152)
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by 7a1c9427 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @06:49AM (#26710337)
I think that is a very charitable assumption about the GP claim. The linked article describes a very specific implementation vulnerability around handling of offline messages that would appear to be routed in user experience being ranked higher than operational security by WhatsApp (understandably). In this case it also does notify the user once they are online, and the original phone is logged out alerting the compromised user.

The GP claim is far broader that all E2E communication can be compromised without user awareness permitting ongoing communication between two unaware parties to be monitored.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by uoaei on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @04:09PM (#26716762)
> I think that is a very charitable assumption about the GP claim. The linked article describes a very specific implementation vulnerability around handling of offline messages that would appear to be routed in user experience being ranked higher than operational security by WhatsApp (understandably).

Both points (security vulnerability and user experience prioritization) can be true simultaneously. This is the root of all plausible deniability when it comes to installing vulnerabilities in technologies.

I don't see why we should care at all about WhatsApp's intentions with the change when the effects are so pernicious. Facebook et al. definitely do not deserve the benefit of our doubt anymore.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by 7a1c9427 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:49PM (#26717803)
This is true. But I would suggest your operational security has bigger issues than this potential vulnerability if you are using WhatsApp.

Regardless - you still haven't given a source for you original claim. "not deserving benefit of the doubt" does not qualify. If the linked article is in fact you source then in the future please do not exaggerate such claims as you have done. I would have expected a claim from the article to read (along with a link to the source!):

> WhatsApp have modified the protocol slightly auspiciously for user experience but this allows a third party attacker to intercept messages sent offline only alerting the sender after they have been disclosed.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by secfirstmd on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @04:30AM (#26709471)
Yeh that's a big claim. Love to know source
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by EGreg on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @04:46AM (#26709569)
I would also like to mention that information is encrypted and cannot be proven.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by anticensor on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:28AM (#26709841)
> they modified the protocol slightly to allow for someone in control of the administration server to change a user's private key without their knowing, so that the admin can decrypt the E2E communications using the known key.

You mean, no-longer-E2EE.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by 908B64B197 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @01:36PM (#26714885)
What are the odds that Zuckerberg knows a lot of people in the tech business and some of them are Signal users?
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by Grustaf on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:04AM (#26709680)
> Disclaimer: My views are my own (and not necessarily shared by my employers).

Who is your employer? It's not mentioned in your profile...

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by rataata_jr on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:40AM (#26709919)
Maybe its mentioned in one of his earlier comments on this platform.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by saagarjha on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @07:02AM (#26710409)
It is indeed.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by Grustaf on Thursday April 08, 2021 @03:31AM (#26736057)
To be fair, how often do anonymous forum posts actually reflect the opinions of the employer?
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by BiteCode_dev on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @04:02AM (#26709286)
Besides, he may just have friends that are not on whatsapp or messenger. What is he gonna do, ghost them?
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by black_puppydog on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @10:20AM (#26712057)
As in, having them followed by "ghosts" to report back to him what they're doing, like he's doing with the rest of us? :)
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by 74d-fe6-2c6 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:11AM (#26709738)
Many people who are incompetent about technology have this weird paradoxical attitude towards apps where they will install random apps without even thinking twice and have loads of apps on their phone which are basically just mobile web sites but when it comes to messengers it's the opposite and they feel overwhelmed by having more than WA,FB and IG.

On the other side of the spectrum are people who won't just install some random app without due dilligence, make a pass on appified websites and don't care about how many messengers they have on the phone because it doesn't really matter anyway due to the reactive usage pattern. I suppose MZ is like that.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by tamrix on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @03:08AM (#26708934)
He could pay a team of 100 developers to do that.

If he really wanted to that, he would have several phones with separate numbers for exploring other messaging apps as not to cross business and personal matters.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by nine_k on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @03:39AM (#26709146)
(1) You can't always trust the opinions of 100 developers, even if you can somehow consolidate them. Certain things are best seen firsthand, even if you have opinions of top 20 people you trust.

(2) Lugging multiple phones is clumsy enough that most people won't consider it, most CEOs, even more so. Two is somehow tolerable. And you need competitors' apps always available, to try things while you have an idea, and to easily compare.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by goatinaboat on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @03:05AM (#26708915)
I’m not totally convinced by the narrative that Mark doesn’t trust his own tools so he prefers Signal.

He has tape over the camera of his own computer in Facebook HQ

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by nine_k on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @03:44AM (#26709175)
Everybody should have a shutter over the camera, just to protect from blunders and misclicks.

No matter how you trust your software, some malware may want to activate it, especially at a high-value target like Zuckerberg (or Bezos, or Nadella, etc).

Alas, microphones are not as easy to deactivate.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by mFixman on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:43AM (#26709935)
Covering a camera always seemed like unjustified paranoia for me.

If someone can access my camera and spy my unkept beard, why won't they also be able to access my keyboard and spy my main email account password?

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by wp381640 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @07:46AM (#26710704)
Tape over camera originated with the spate of online webcam blackmail attacks a few years ago.

Lots of young girls were being lured into installing malware and had their bedrooms recorded.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by boogies on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @08:17PM (#26719020)
Why not cover your camera? Some MacBooks are so delicate that Apple itself warns stickers can break them IIRC¹, but to me that’s just one more great reason never to buy a MacBook. For other cameras, if someone can look into my windows, they can also watch a lock-picking video on YouTube and IIRC learn that something like ≥70% of American homes have locks from the same 1–2 brands, and break in easily, but I still close curtains, because why not?

¹(Edit) You can't make this stuff up: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211148

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by base698 on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @09:22AM (#26711446)
It's also for personal mistakes. Accidentally clicking the camera on when in your underwear for example.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by boogies on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @09:22AM (#26711448)
> Alas, microphones are not as easy to deactivate.

That’s why eg. all Purism products with them have hardware kill switches (to physically disconnect them).

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by dheera on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @04:48AM (#26709577)
> Alas, microphones are not as easy to deactivate.

Easier on desktops that don't have a built-in mic.

I use a mic with a hardware power switch.

Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by the-dude on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:05AM (#26709694)
Mics don't use power. Pedantic, I know.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by jcims on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:23AM (#26709804)
Some do. Pedantic, I know. ;)
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by rorykoehler on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @07:32AM (#26710600)
Related... do you know if there are there laptops with condenser microphones built in?
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by dheera on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @11:04AM (#26712655)
Mine does actually ...
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by icybox on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @04:31AM (#26709478)
Actually, they are. Just grab headphones with microphone and use scissors and keep the jack in.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by jhugo on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:02AM (#26709669)
Don't know about laptops but on recent desktop motherboards the jack detection and output/input switching is done in software. Probably the case on many laptops too. So this approach shouldn't be considered a "hardware switch" as it's still possible to capture audio from another mic even when a headset is plugged in.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by alias_neo on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:46AM (#26709955)
On both of my XPSs I can switch to internal or external mic regardless of a headset behind plugged in, so the snarky suggestion to use a cut-off headphone jack is misguided and won't work on many modern laptops.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by carmen_sandiego on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @05:18AM (#26709772)
Bold to assume I have a mic jack in 2021.
Re:Leaked phone number of Mark Zuckerberg reveals he is on S... by karmasimida on Tuesday April 06, 2021 @06:58AM (#26710390)
That is my first thought too.

He might be just trying to experience Signal here and there, and see how to take something from it to facebook.

I don't think he is using this seriously.