5 ms·

This can't possibly be a good faith comment.

1337shadow 5y ago
Because we should all think like you? Not me, I'm dissident from your mainstream ideologies, but have been fighting on your side for ~15 years ;)
najqh 5y ago
I disagree with him, but he makes a solid point, and many people think like him. HN is enough of an echo chamber as it is, don't make it worse.
- ben_w 5y ago
  The article says: """The main criticism was that it is simply impossible to rule out that a backdoor - once it is built - is abused by criminals or undemocratic regimes. A lowering of the security level would immediately affect all users - and not just those who are the subject of a judicial investigation.""" The comment says: > I'm glad you're keeping safe dealers, pedophiles, and other criminals as well as their lawyers. This does not look like a solid point to me; it looks like rhetoric.
  - 1337shadow 5y ago
    Citing two different passages from the article: > This draft included a passage that would have forced companies such as WhatsApp and Signal to decrypt their encrypted chats upon request by the authorities for criminal investigation. > Belgian intellectuals like Professor Bart Preneel said that "by putting a backdoor into Whatsapp, you would make it less safe for everyone". This does not look like a solid point to me; it looks like rhetoric. Anyway: > a backdoor - once it is built - is abused by criminals or undemocratic regimes. If they can get their hands on a governmental private key, which is unlikely.
    - ttybird2 5y ago
      Isn't this what happened with some european "digital covid certificates"? Not really unlikely.
      - 1337shadow 5y ago
        Not afaik, people have just been sending screenshots of their QR codes to each others, and the people "validating" just have to "scan and see Valid".
        ttybird2 5y ago
        The keys themselves were leaked. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29011537 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29011537
    - throwaway675309 5y ago
      Just by virtue of providing the possibility of keys to the "Proverbial kingdom" and centralizing location of those keys gives far greater incentive for hackers or state actors to find new ways to gain access to these tools for decryption.
      - 1337shadow 5y ago
        Yes, but we can always revoke them and generate new ones?
        ben_w 5y ago
        What economic damage can be done in the interval between a private key being accessed by a criminal and the key being revoked? Depends on the systems connected to the private key of course, but billions per incident are certainly possible in some cases. Even if this is just private chat on messenger platforms rather than 2FA or HTTPS, imagine how blackmailers would respond to getting all the nudes, the drunk confessions, the adultery, from 30 minutes access to all of the 10th most popular chat app in your country.

Because we should all think like you? Not me, I'm dissident from your mainstream ideologies, but have been fighting on your side for ~15 years ;)

najqh 5y ago

I disagree with him, but he makes a solid point, and many people think like him. HN is enough of an echo chamber as it is, don't make it worse.

ben_w 5y ago
The article says: """The main criticism was that it is simply impossible to rule out that a backdoor - once it is built - is abused by criminals or undemocratic regimes. A lowering of the security level would immediately affect all users - and not just those who are the subject of a judicial investigation.""" The comment says: > I'm glad you're keeping safe dealers, pedophiles, and other criminals as well as their lawyers. This does not look like a solid point to me; it looks like rhetoric.
- 1337shadow 5y ago
  Citing two different passages from the article: > This draft included a passage that would have forced companies such as WhatsApp and Signal to decrypt their encrypted chats upon request by the authorities for criminal investigation. > Belgian intellectuals like Professor Bart Preneel said that "by putting a backdoor into Whatsapp, you would make it less safe for everyone". This does not look like a solid point to me; it looks like rhetoric. Anyway: > a backdoor - once it is built - is abused by criminals or undemocratic regimes. If they can get their hands on a governmental private key, which is unlikely.
  - ttybird2 5y ago
    Isn't this what happened with some european "digital covid certificates"? Not really unlikely.
    - 1337shadow 5y ago
      Not afaik, people have just been sending screenshots of their QR codes to each others, and the people "validating" just have to "scan and see Valid".
      - ttybird2 5y ago
        The keys themselves were leaked. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29011537 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29011537
  - throwaway675309 5y ago
    Just by virtue of providing the possibility of keys to the "Proverbial kingdom" and centralizing location of those keys gives far greater incentive for hackers or state actors to find new ways to gain access to these tools for decryption.
    - 1337shadow 5y ago
      Yes, but we can always revoke them and generate new ones?
      - ben_w 5y ago
        What economic damage can be done in the interval between a private key being accessed by a criminal and the key being revoked? Depends on the systems connected to the private key of course, but billions per incident are certainly possible in some cases. Even if this is just private chat on messenger platforms rather than 2FA or HTTPS, imagine how blackmailers would respond to getting all the nudes, the drunk confessions, the adultery, from 30 minutes access to all of the 10th most popular chat app in your country.