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Is a warrant canary even legal? If it isn't, what's the point of having them? From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War

by read 12y ago

Is a warrant canary even legal? If it isn't, what's the point of having them? From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary The US security researcher Moxie Marlinspike states that "every lawyer we've spoken to has confirmed that [a warrant canary] would not work" for the TextSecure server. Direct link: https://github.com/WhisperSystems/whispersystems.org/issues/34#issuecomment-49910725 https://github.com/WhisperSystems/whispersystems.org/issues/...

pakled_engineer 12y ago
The main worry for TextSecure is that Google upon receiving a NSL will send you a targeted update for the TS client and GAPPS framework that sends all your msgs to a three letter agency before being encrypted and sent as usual. So Google would need a canary for the play store
- dublinben 12y ago
  If you're concerned about that threat vector, you wouldn't be using GAPPS/Play. Except that's the only way they'll distribute TextSecure.
- jlund 12y ago
  Except for the fact that Google does not have the signing keys that are used for the TextSecure binaries. They cannot silently distribute a binary that has been tampered with. This distributed trust system is one of Android's strengths: https://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html https://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.h...
  - dllthomas 12y ago
    Though don't they control the code that does the signature checking?
  - petertodd 12y ago
    To clarify, so Google can distribute a binary that has been tampered with, but it'd be trivial to prove that they had in fact done that?
    - jlund 12y ago
      That's correct. Android will warn you if the signatures don't match too. Even if we're in the full-on conspiracy theory territory of Google disabling that core security feature, impersonating a third-party developer, and dropping a binary onto a single user's phone, they still couldn't fake the signature.
      - jacquesm 12y ago
        They could simply disable the warning. It's android giving the warning, not the app.
  - StavrosK 12y ago
    But they own the OS, so I guess they can intercept whatever they want before it even reaches the app.
  - pakled_engineer 12y ago
    Unless you have a phone still vuln to the Android signature bug, which is millions of devices still running unpatched carrier builds.
wnevets 12y ago
The EFF quote in your link suggest yes.

by read 12y ago

pakled_engineer 12y ago

The main worry for TextSecure is that Google upon receiving a NSL will send you a targeted update for the TS client and GAPPS framework that sends all your msgs to a three letter agency before being encrypted and sent as usual. So Google would need a canary for the play store

dublinben 12y ago
If you're concerned about that threat vector, you wouldn't be using GAPPS/Play. Except that's the only way they'll distribute TextSecure.
jlund 12y ago
Except for the fact that Google does not have the signing keys that are used for the TextSecure binaries. They cannot silently distribute a binary that has been tampered with. This distributed trust system is one of Android's strengths: https://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html https://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.h...
- dllthomas 12y ago
  Though don't they control the code that does the signature checking?
- petertodd 12y ago
  To clarify, so Google can distribute a binary that has been tampered with, but it'd be trivial to prove that they had in fact done that?
  - jlund 12y ago
    That's correct. Android will warn you if the signatures don't match too. Even if we're in the full-on conspiracy theory territory of Google disabling that core security feature, impersonating a third-party developer, and dropping a binary onto a single user's phone, they still couldn't fake the signature.
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      They could simply disable the warning. It's android giving the warning, not the app.
- StavrosK 12y ago
  But they own the OS, so I guess they can intercept whatever they want before it even reaches the app.
- pakled_engineer 12y ago
  Unless you have a phone still vuln to the Android signature bug, which is millions of devices still running unpatched carrier builds.

wnevets 12y ago

The EFF quote in your link suggest yes.