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How does one “open a text”?

by epcoa 2y ago

chatmasta 2y ago
Depends on the platform, but generally speaking it requires taking whatever action changes its status from "unread" to "read." But even then, there has been at least one case of iOS malware that infected the system upon delivery of a text (since BlastDoor parsed the payload upon receipt, IIRC). That's one reason why Lockdown Mode rejects any text from unknown numbers.
mikesabat 2y ago
Text messages don't have an "open" action. Replying STOP will unsubscribe the recipient from future SMS from this number. I have never seen an organization use an unsubscribe as a positive action in their funnel. There are less expensive and less risky ways to confirm that a phone number is valid for sure.
- 1_1xdev1 2y ago
  Not really true, if you have an iPhone, at least. URL previews are loaded on message open. A network request to the url they sent you. They know when you opened it Unless the behavior has changed (maybe it has)?
  - eddyg 2y ago
    Previews are generated by the sender. The only network requests for the receiver are to Apple. Quoting from a January 2021 Project Zero blog post⁽¹⁾ on BlastDoor: As an example, consider what happens when a user sends a link to a website over iMessage. In that case, the sending device will first render a preview of the webpage and collect some metadata about it (such as the title and page description), then pack those fields into an NSKeyedArchiver archive. This archive is then encrypted with a temporary key and uploaded to the iCloud servers. Finally, the link as well as the decryption key are sent to the receiver as part of the iMessage. In order to create a useful user notification about the incoming iMessage, this data has to be processed by the receiver on a 0-click code path. As that again involves a fair amount of complexity, it is also done inside BlastDoor: after receiving the BlastDoor reply from above and realizing that the message contains an attachment, imagent first instructs IMTransferAgent to download and decrypt the iCloud attachment. ⁽¹⁾ https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-look-at-imessage-in-ios-14.html https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-look-at-ime...
    - 71bw 2y ago
      Keyword: over iMessage. What about normal SMS messages?
      - kube-system 2y ago
        Just tried it. It doesn't render a preview.
- Thorrez 2y ago
  I reply STOP (or whatever the capitalization is that the text asks for) to every political spam text I get that says "STOP to unsubscribe" or some such. I've been doing this for years. I got 7 political spam texts today. I don't think the STOP is working.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
1_1xdev1 2y ago
How does one “open an email” Same thing Your messaging client may helpfully request the url they sent you to show a url preview. In an email, your client renders the html including img tags (yes, this can be disabled, and may not even be default for most people anymore; it’s still a thing)

How does one “open a text”?

by epcoa 2y ago

How does one “open a text”?

Depends on the platform, but generally speaking it requires taking whatever action changes its status from "unread" to "read." But even then, there has been at least one case of iOS malware that infected the system upon delivery of a text (since BlastDoor parsed the payload upon receipt, IIRC). That's one reason why Lockdown Mode rejects any text from unknown numbers.

mikesabat 2y ago

Text messages don't have an "open" action. Replying STOP will unsubscribe the recipient from future SMS from this number. I have never seen an organization use an unsubscribe as a positive action in their funnel. There are less expensive and less risky ways to confirm that a phone number is valid for sure.

1_1xdev1 2y ago
Not really true, if you have an iPhone, at least. URL previews are loaded on message open. A network request to the url they sent you. They know when you opened it Unless the behavior has changed (maybe it has)?
- eddyg 2y ago
  Previews are generated by the sender. The only network requests for the receiver are to Apple. Quoting from a January 2021 Project Zero blog post⁽¹⁾ on BlastDoor: As an example, consider what happens when a user sends a link to a website over iMessage. In that case, the sending device will first render a preview of the webpage and collect some metadata about it (such as the title and page description), then pack those fields into an NSKeyedArchiver archive. This archive is then encrypted with a temporary key and uploaded to the iCloud servers. Finally, the link as well as the decryption key are sent to the receiver as part of the iMessage. In order to create a useful user notification about the incoming iMessage, this data has to be processed by the receiver on a 0-click code path. As that again involves a fair amount of complexity, it is also done inside BlastDoor: after receiving the BlastDoor reply from above and realizing that the message contains an attachment, imagent first instructs IMTransferAgent to download and decrypt the iCloud attachment. ⁽¹⁾ https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-look-at-imessage-in-ios-14.html https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-look-at-ime...
  - 71bw 2y ago
    Keyword: over iMessage. What about normal SMS messages?
    - kube-system 2y ago
      Just tried it. It doesn't render a preview.
Thorrez 2y ago
I reply STOP (or whatever the capitalization is that the text asks for) to every political spam text I get that says "STOP to unsubscribe" or some such. I've been doing this for years. I got 7 political spam texts today. I don't think the STOP is working.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

1_1xdev1 2y ago

How does one “open an email” Same thing Your messaging client may helpfully request the url they sent you to show a url preview. In an email, your client renders the html including img tags (yes, this can be disabled, and may not even be default for most people anymore; it’s still a thing)