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Forbes staff reporter Thomas Fox-Brewster has an article (mirror here for those who won't turn off their ad blockers) reporting that Haifa-based spy tech company Wintego allegedly has the capability to break WhatsApp's encryption. From the article:
An Israeli company is marketing what appears to be an astonishing surveillance capability, claiming it can siphon off all WhatsApp chats, including encrypted communications, from phones within close proximity of a hidden Wi-Fi hacking device in a backpack.
Brochures leaked to FORBES, and published below, revealed a non-public offering from Haifa-based Wintego called CatchApp. It promises an "unprecedented capability" to break through WhatsApp encryption and grab everything from a target's account. It does so through a "man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attack; in theory the traffic is intercepted between the app and the WhatsApp server and somehow the encryption is decoded by the device, though that may not be possible with the latest upgrades to the software's cryptography.
According to the anonymous source who handed FORBES the documents, the product works on the most current versions of WhatsApp, noting the brochures were handed out at a policing event this year. They could not offer any proof of that claim, however, and the files may date from before WhatsApp added significantly stronger end-to-end encryption.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday October 06 2016, @04:18PM
Israeli hackers are immune from DMCA claims, because they're the good guys.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Nerdfest on Thursday October 06 2016, @04:57PM
They're also not in the US ... they're in Israel. Admittedly though, that hasn't stopped US media companies in all cases in the past.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 06 2016, @07:55PM
Loosely translated*, Israel's fair use clause explicitly allows self-study, research, criticism, survey, journalistic report, citations and inclusion as part of an institution's curriculum.
Moreover, there are some mandatory minimal criteria for evaluation when determining if a usage is fair or not:
1. Purpose and method of usage.
2. The nature of the work itself.
3. Quantitative and qualitative aspects.
4. Affects \ effects of the usage on the work's potential value.
Note the lack of "potential lost revenues" doctrine: If you've pirated a copy of a music CD or some software that otherwise sold in the millions, beyond court expenses and a fine, the copyright holder won't be rewarded even with the value of the product unless the court sees a good reason to do so.
Also, it's up to the copyright owner to prove the violation was not in fair usage. That is, you can't just DMCA someone because they downloaded something since in Israel, the default is fair usage unless shown in court to be otherwise.
Effectively, unless you're a business pirating commercial products, Israeli court don't care.
* https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A9_%D7%94%D7%95%D7%92%D7%9F#.D7.94.D7.92.D7.93.D7.A8.D7.AA_.22.D7.A9.D7.99.D7.9E.D7.95.D7.A9_.D7.94.D7.95.D7.92.D7.9F.22_.D7.91.D7.99.D7.A9.D7.A8.D7.90.D7.9C [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday October 07 2016, @12:14AM
They're also not in the US ..."
When has that ever stopped the USA?
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 07 2016, @01:38AM
Snowden and Assange would be toast if they'd leaked music or movies.