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Messages are decrypted when you read them. It's reasonable to believe that at any point in time Root exploits exist for both iOS and Android. It's viable that

Messages are decrypted when you read them. It's reasonable to believe that at any point in time Root exploits exist for both iOS and Android. It's viable that the FBI or someone they cooperate with has such exploits from time to time (which doesn't mean they are reliable, or cheap to use). If you root-hack a phone you can easily get all messages the user sees after you hacked it. Even without root hacking you might get some, in some circumstances. EDIT: I should have read the article first, it's more about what content they get without hacking.

CameronNemo 5y ago
You make some good points, but I need to point out that hacking a phone to obtain message contents is different from serving a warrant to a third party. Legally and practically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation_of_privacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation_of_privacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(policing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(policing)
squarefoot 5y ago
> If you root-hack a phone you can easily get all messages the user sees after you hacked it. This is not even necessary if you're in bed with hardware manufacturers, which could be the case with governments. All is needed is a system level daemon running in background, disguised as service or device driver pushed as mandatory upgrade, having access to the underlying iron. The user employs super strong cryptography? Who cares if we can read what is sent to the screen and tunnel it over the network to us. Passwords? Who cares if we can sniff the touch screen data to get the tapped points coordinates containing the position of keys on the virtual keyboard. Point is that there is zero protection against surveillance if the adversary has control over the hardware. Which is the reason why flashing an FOSS operating system on a closed hardware/firmware platform, although being indeed a good thing, isn't enough to claim victory.

CameronNemo 5y ago

You make some good points, but I need to point out that hacking a phone to obtain message contents is different from serving a warrant to a third party. Legally and practically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation_of_privacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectation_of_privacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(policing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(policing)

squarefoot 5y ago

> If you root-hack a phone you can easily get all messages the user sees after you hacked it. This is not even necessary if you're in bed with hardware manufacturers, which could be the case with governments. All is needed is a system level daemon running in background, disguised as service or device driver pushed as mandatory upgrade, having access to the underlying iron. The user employs super strong cryptography? Who cares if we can read what is sent to the screen and tunnel it over the network to us. Passwords? Who cares if we can sniff the touch screen data to get the tapped points coordinates containing the position of keys on the virtual keyboard. Point is that there is zero protection against surveillance if the adversary has control over the hardware. Which is the reason why flashing an FOSS operating system on a closed hardware/firmware platform, although being indeed a good thing, isn't enough to claim victory.