4 ms·

... and Whatsapp uses FreeBSD extensively. Could this affect the end-to-end encryption that Whatsapp uses?

by discardorama 12y ago

evandena 12y ago
I doubt they're on CURRENT.
tptacek 12y ago
Does WhatsApp run on -CURRENT? That seems unlikely.
- WestCoastJustin 12y ago
  There was a talk + slides about WhatsApp FreeBSD usage [1, 2]. At around 23:50 in the video, Rick Reed talks about slide #17, they say they are running 9.1 - 9.3, and looking at 10.1 (not in a hurry as 9 works for them). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneLO5TdW_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneLO5TdW_M [2] http://www.slideshare.net/iXsystems/rick-reed-600-m-unsuspecting-freebsd-users http://www.slideshare.net/iXsystems/rick-reed-600-m-unsuspec...
  - barkingcat 12y ago
    -CURRENT is not a single version number - it refers to a development branch. If someone says CURRENT is version xx, then they don't really know what they are talking about - because while CURRENT may become a versioned release down the line, that is very different from what -CURRENT represents (which is a named tree in source control that people develop against) All of those freebsd versions you refer to (9, 10) are part of the production release cycles and thus are not -CURRENT. If whatsapp uses 10.1, then they are NOT using -CURRENT
    - WestCoastJustin 12y ago
      Yeah, I think we are both thinking the same thing. I put the links, and version numbers, in support of tptacek's thought that they were not using -CURRENT.
timmclean 12y ago
It shouldn't affect end-to-end encryption, because those keys should only be generated at the endpoints (i.e. the users' devices, probably not running FreeBSD). It could affect TLS, etc, however.
- kibibu 12y ago
  > should only be generated Theoretically, WhatsApp could generate the keys and forward them to clients, and you could still plausibly call it "End to End"
  - timmclean 12y ago
    oh god, hopefully not
X-Istence 12y ago
It wouldn't be end-to-end encryption if WhatsApp's servers could influence the results.

... and Whatsapp uses FreeBSD extensively. Could this affect the end-to-end encryption that Whatsapp uses?

evandena 12y ago

I doubt they're on CURRENT.

tptacek 12y ago

Does WhatsApp run on -CURRENT? That seems unlikely.

WestCoastJustin 12y ago
There was a talk + slides about WhatsApp FreeBSD usage [1, 2]. At around 23:50 in the video, Rick Reed talks about slide #17, they say they are running 9.1 - 9.3, and looking at 10.1 (not in a hurry as 9 works for them). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneLO5TdW_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TneLO5TdW_M [2] http://www.slideshare.net/iXsystems/rick-reed-600-m-unsuspecting-freebsd-users http://www.slideshare.net/iXsystems/rick-reed-600-m-unsuspec...
- barkingcat 12y ago
  -CURRENT is not a single version number - it refers to a development branch. If someone says CURRENT is version xx, then they don't really know what they are talking about - because while CURRENT may become a versioned release down the line, that is very different from what -CURRENT represents (which is a named tree in source control that people develop against) All of those freebsd versions you refer to (9, 10) are part of the production release cycles and thus are not -CURRENT. If whatsapp uses 10.1, then they are NOT using -CURRENT
  - WestCoastJustin 12y ago
    Yeah, I think we are both thinking the same thing. I put the links, and version numbers, in support of tptacek's thought that they were not using -CURRENT.

timmclean 12y ago

It shouldn't affect end-to-end encryption, because those keys should only be generated at the endpoints (i.e. the users' devices, probably not running FreeBSD). It could affect TLS, etc, however.

kibibu 12y ago
> should only be generated Theoretically, WhatsApp could generate the keys and forward them to clients, and you could still plausibly call it "End to End"
- timmclean 12y ago
  oh god, hopefully not

X-Istence 12y ago

It wouldn't be end-to-end encryption if WhatsApp's servers could influence the results.