Comment on Lawsuit Alleges That WhatsApp Has No End-to-End Encryption
clean_anion@programming.dev 16 hours agoI assumed that not only the entire app but also the entire client device had been audited. This was a client-side attack, not Meta momentarily adding itself to the trusted-device list. I’m confident it was a client-side attack because it would be impossible to hide even a momentary change in keys from the client without modifying the client app to conceal such a change.
RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Does Meta make it visible when you add a new trusted device? Does Signal?
But yeah Meta have full control of the client and it isn’t audited so they could do it a lot of ways.
clean_anion@programming.dev 15 hours ago
Yes, it is visible when a new trusted device is added. The QR code you scan to link a device contains a one-time public key for that device (ECC is used partly to fit the public key more easily into a QR code). Signal on the phone then sends a lot of information, including the identity keys, to the new device. The new device uses these identity keys to communicate. Note that the transfer of identity keys is fully encrypted, with encryption and decryption taking place on the clients. This can, of course, be bypassed if someone you’re talking to has their security key compromised, but the same risk exists if the recipient takes a screenshot or photographs their device’s screen.