7 ms·

Indeed. It's not just crypto nerds would want to use the service without having to have a smartphone with a phone number. The phone requirement is beyond ridic

Indeed. It's not just crypto nerds would want to use the service without having to have a smartphone with a phone number. The phone requirement is beyond ridiculous. How did Signal get the reputation it enjoys in the tech community anyway?

CoryG89 10y ago
> How did Signal get the reputation it enjoys in the tech community anyway? You can thank Edward Snowden for that. In fact, they have his picture and testimonial on their front page: https://whispersystems.org https://whispersystems.org
- mintplant 10y ago
  moxie, the founder of OWS, was already well-known before Snowden. SSLstrip, for example: https://moxie.org/software/sslstrip/ https://moxie.org/software/sslstrip/ and this DEFCON talk where he presents multiple attacks on cert validation: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ibF36Yyeehw https://youtube.com/watch?v=ibF36Yyeehw
cgag 10y ago
What's a trustworthy alternative?
- newscracker 10y ago
  Wire [1], which I've been trying for the past few months, seems so. It's quite rich in its feature set compared to Signal, all messages are E2E encrypted and provides multi-device sync and multi-platform support. [1]: https://wire.com https://wire.com
walterbell 10y ago
Wire (http://wire.com http://wire.com) does not need a phone number (register with email on a desktop browser at http://app.wire.com http://app.wire.com, then login to mobile) and does not need a copy of your contacts. Supports text, image, files, audio, video. E2E encryption is based on Signal protocol. Funded by Skype founder.
- moxie 10y ago
  Wire does not use Signal Protocol, they used some of our code to create a protocol of their own devising that we do not recommend.
  - subliminalpanda 10y ago
    What are their protocol's shortcomings?
  - cvwright 10y ago
    Interesting. Which code of yours are they using now? After the last flare up on Twitter, I thought they wrote their own implementation, using the Signal code as a reference.
  - terraforming 10y ago
    Why do you not recommend? Hopefully you're not just saying that because they aren't Signal.. ------------------------------------------------ I've been using Wire for a few weeks now and I'm absolutely happy. They recently released a linux client https://medium.com/wire-news/get-your-linux-on-999403a1a4fe#.ju81mo5lm https://medium.com/wire-news/get-your-linux-on-999403a1a4fe#... (not a chrome app!) (though I think it's electron). I'm quite happy with them, give them a try.
    - Siimteller 10y ago
      Correct, built with Electron like our Windows and macOS apps. Glad you're enjoying it. Possible reason: https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7#.89118rx5s https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7...
- cvwright 10y ago
  I almost installed Wire this afternoon. Unfortunately this part > does not need a copy of your contacts is not quite correct if you read the fine print. From https://wire.com/legal/ https://wire.com/legal/ > 5.1 Account ... You agree that if you give the App permission to access your address book, anonymized phone numbers and emails from the address book will be uploaded to the Service for the purpose of connecting users.

CoryG89 10y ago

> How did Signal get the reputation it enjoys in the tech community anyway? You can thank Edward Snowden for that. In fact, they have his picture and testimonial on their front page: https://whispersystems.org https://whispersystems.org

mintplant 10y ago
moxie, the founder of OWS, was already well-known before Snowden. SSLstrip, for example: https://moxie.org/software/sslstrip/ https://moxie.org/software/sslstrip/ and this DEFCON talk where he presents multiple attacks on cert validation: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ibF36Yyeehw https://youtube.com/watch?v=ibF36Yyeehw

cgag 10y ago

What's a trustworthy alternative?

newscracker 10y ago
Wire [1], which I've been trying for the past few months, seems so. It's quite rich in its feature set compared to Signal, all messages are E2E encrypted and provides multi-device sync and multi-platform support. [1]: https://wire.com https://wire.com

walterbell 10y ago

Wire (http://wire.com http://wire.com) does not need a phone number (register with email on a desktop browser at http://app.wire.com http://app.wire.com, then login to mobile) and does not need a copy of your contacts. Supports text, image, files, audio, video. E2E encryption is based on Signal protocol. Funded by Skype founder.

moxie 10y ago
Wire does not use Signal Protocol, they used some of our code to create a protocol of their own devising that we do not recommend.
- subliminalpanda 10y ago
  What are their protocol's shortcomings?
- cvwright 10y ago
  Interesting. Which code of yours are they using now? After the last flare up on Twitter, I thought they wrote their own implementation, using the Signal code as a reference.
- terraforming 10y ago
  Why do you not recommend? Hopefully you're not just saying that because they aren't Signal.. ------------------------------------------------ I've been using Wire for a few weeks now and I'm absolutely happy. They recently released a linux client https://medium.com/wire-news/get-your-linux-on-999403a1a4fe#.ju81mo5lm https://medium.com/wire-news/get-your-linux-on-999403a1a4fe#... (not a chrome app!) (though I think it's electron). I'm quite happy with them, give them a try.
  - Siimteller 10y ago
    Correct, built with Electron like our Windows and macOS apps. Glad you're enjoying it. Possible reason: https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7#.89118rx5s https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7...
cvwright 10y ago
I almost installed Wire this afternoon. Unfortunately this part > does not need a copy of your contacts is not quite correct if you read the fine print. From https://wire.com/legal/ https://wire.com/legal/ > 5.1 Account ... You agree that if you give the App permission to access your address book, anonymized phone numbers and emails from the address book will be uploaded to the Service for the purpose of connecting users.