4 ms·
1. Decentralized (real p2p, no central servers) 2. Encrypted communication 3. Easier to set up than encrypted email: Install -> Exchange "certificates" -> Don
by kimlelly 13y ago
1. Decentralized (real p2p, no central servers)
2. Encrypted communication
3. Easier to set up than encrypted email: Install -> Exchange "certificates" -> Done.
BONUS: it's open-source!
(Which means everybody is free to inspect the source code, which means any potential backdoors can 1) be discovered 2) removed -> impossible with Windows and Mac operating systems/software)
- tptacek 13y agoNo, it is not impossible to discover backdoors and vulnerabilities in closed-source Windows and Mac software; there's a cottage industry of third parties doing that on a pro-bono basis.
- kimlelly 13y agoWell, I guess, the source code sooner or later is accessible to _somebody_ at _some_ development stage or in _some_ version. But can we really trust companies that work with the NSA to sell us the version compiled _without_ the backdoors? Plus, always keep in mind that these companies have lied to us about PRISM - with straight faces.
- maggit 13y agoWhile it is not technically impossible to discover backdoors in closed source software, I'd say it's essential for me to trust crypto-software that it is open source. That being said, it is probably feasible to hide a backdoor even in open source software. But it is still easier in closed source software.
- tptacek 13y agoBy "closed-source", I meant "researchers don't have the source code". And yet they find vulnerabilities anyways. It's not 1995 anymore. Vulnerability researchers tend to have pretty good tools for reading assembly.