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Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by senectus1 on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @06:23AM (#28614757)
WhatsApp uses the Signal encryption subsystem and they only allow one other machine.

What is FB doing that allows this on Whatsapp but not Signal.

What a WhatsApp users opening themselves up for here?

Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by ikawe on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @06:35AM (#28614825)
The Signal app never did the "primary device serves message contents to companion devices" like WhatsApp did.

Ever since Signal introduced the desktop client, its multidevice functionality has involved fully fledged signal-protocol sessions between each device.

It sounds like WhatsApp is now adding something like this to their client, though it sounds like some of the details of the scheme differ.

In principal the signal protocol works fine for a multidevice scenario.

Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by david_arcos on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @07:04AM (#28615016)
> The WhatsApp server maintains a mapping between each person’s account and all their device identities. When someone wants to send a message, they get their device list keys from the server.

Oh, no...

Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by alfongj on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @07:46PM (#28623501)
What's your concern?
Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by ev1 on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @10:21PM (#28624571)
> they get their device list keys from the server

Which means the server can just substitute keys in.

Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by alfongj on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @11:39PM (#28624977)
Right, but that doesn't compromise the security of the service necessarily.

Users can catch a malicious server injecting incorrect keys by looking at security notifications and comparing security codes. This is part of the Signal protocol.

This may be tedious but only needs to be done in the event of phone keys getting reset (a once in a year event?), as all companion device keys are automatically verified with signatures provided from an account owner's primary (phone) device

Source: https://www.whatsapp.com/security/WhatsApp_Security_Whitepap...

Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by bool3max on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @06:33AM (#28614814)
Maybe read the article?
Re:How WhatsApp enables multi-device capability by blowski on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @07:00AM (#28614994)
HN Guidelines:

> Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."