A Russian state-backed messenger application called Max, a rival to WhatsApp that critics say could be used to track users, must be pre-installed on all mobile phones and tablets bought in the country starting next month, the Russian government said on Thursday.
The decision to promote Max comes as Moscow, locked in a standoff with the west over Ukraine, is seeking greater control over the internet. The Kremlin said in a statement that Max, which will be integrated with government services, would be on a list of mandatory pre-installed apps on all “gadgets”, including mobile phones and tablets, sold in Russia from 1 September.
A vulnerability allowing to exploit an app is not the same thing as a backdoor. Moreover, being able to gain full access to someone’s device does not prove that an app’s end-to-end encryption is faulty. The same kind of exploit most likely could be used to read messages from Signal and definitely other apps.
That’s my point. The e2ee is worthless marketing because they work with cybermercinary groups to ensure they have exploits to gain access to the device.
NSLs require backdoors. Meta is a US corporation. But, sure, you can pretend that these exploits aren’t intentional. That’s their plausible deniability.
Likewise, you can pretend to be sure it’s a backdoor without any proof and then also believe there’s more that’s not been exposed. Signal is also US-based, by the way. What software do you trust not to have vulnerabilities that could be abused by the likes of NSO Group and why?
SimpleX is probably best. Wire is much more practical for day to day, but the metadata in Wire might literally get you killed.
Gonna have to explain that last part there chief. What’s wire?