Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon)

Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by dodgerdan on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @12:53PM (#33179697)

SMS and security are simply incompatible. And either you fall into one of two groups 1. You know sms is insecure and this is a insecure method of communication 2. You think sms sent via signal is secure because it’s a “secure messenger”. It’s clear that HN users will fall into group 1, but the vast majority of people would fall into group 2. So for me this is an overall security win.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by monetus on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @12:56PM (#33179747)

The network effect of signal not being a hub for SMS and e2ee will mean less people using e2ee, IMO.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by NoGravitas on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:18PM (#33180072)

Yeah, I think this is more likely to be the case. People who don't understand encryption but used Signal as their SMS messenger were at least getting opportunistic encryption with any of their contacts who were using Signal. Now they'll probably just uninstall it (like every iOS Signal user I've ever known).

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by dodgerdan on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:02PM (#33179834)

A few years ago I would have agreed, but right now Signal is doing just fine taking users from WhatsApp (FB TOS changes + ads + social group analysis)and Telegram (sketchy non-e2ee, Russian owned, based in the middle east).

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by monetus on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:09PM (#33179956)

Weird, I am in the southeast U.S. and telegram is eating signal's lunch in the social networks here.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by dodgerdan on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:21PM (#33180104)

It’s a big pie, they’re also fairly different. And to be honest it’s only a matter of time before Telegram has a (public) security incident that drives much more people to E2EE messaging.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by monetus on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @02:11PM (#33180764)

I'm curious how long it will be before that public incident - they rolled their own cryptography right? With that, I would imagine that if it hasn't been pwned yet, then there would be a disproportionate amount of people trying to do so.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by brational on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @07:19PM (#33185081)

Rolled their own and off by default.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by stirfish on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:24PM (#33180144)

What people are concerned enough about a Terms of Service change to leave Whatsapp, but struggle with the unlocked icon next to "Insecure SMS" in Signal?

What people know that Telegram isn't end-to-end encrypted, but think SMS is?

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by lucideer on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:27PM (#33180187)

Most of those in group 2 are not using Signal.

Beyond that, the minority in group 2 that use Signal are most likely to be using default settings. SMS handling is a non-default option. So you're left with a very tiny minority.

Group 1 makes up the vast vast majority of the userbase (and most likely 100% of the evangelising userbase)

(Also: if things are unclear for non-technical users, that's a UX challenge, not an absolute)

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by arise on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:01PM (#33179807)

Signal has clear UI cues and redundant messaging telling you what actions are insecure.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by dodgerdan on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:26PM (#33180167)

Google did a security research around ssl and a crazy percentage of people think the lock icon is actually a handbag icon. The rest of the research highlighted how most users aren’t able to make informed choices, most people lack the technical basis to make those choices.

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Re:Removing SMS support from Signal Android (soon) by Xelynega on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @01:45PM (#33180420)

So what's the overlap of "people who care enough about e2ee for it to matter whether a message they're sending is encrypted or not" and "people who think the lock icon next to the send button in the encrypted messenging app they downloaded is a handbag"

I'm willing to wager it's not as big as you're trying to imply.

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