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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday December 22 2016, @12:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the reading-your-mail dept.

According to an article on engadget today, Egypt is blocking access to the encrypted messaging application Signal, made by Open Whisper Systems.

Egypt has blocked its residents from accessing encrypted messaging app Signal, according to the application's developer. Mada Masr, an Egypt-based media organization, reported yesterday that several users took to Twitter over the weekend to report that they could no longer send or receive messages while on Egyptian IP addresses. Open Whisper Systems, the team behind the app, told a user asking about a situation that everything was working just as intended on their end. Now that the company has confirmed that the country is blocking access to Edward Snowden's preferred messaging app, it has begun working on a way to circumvent the ban. They intend to deploy their solution over the next few weeks.

Signal can be downloaded here for android and here for ios


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @01:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @01:15AM (#444553)

    Even if the messages are encrypted you still have to worry about meta-data because Signal requires your account be identified by your phone number. They say they do it because phone# is a convenient ID for the users to remember. And that's true, but its a serious weakness, especially for users in an autocratic country like Egypt. I wish Signal would offer the option to chose an 'inconvenient' ID for better privacy.

    Or better yet, instead of IDs for the endpoints, IDs for the "channel" between them (kind of like IRC channels) so that conversations between any two (or more) users would have a unique ID unrelated to any other conversations.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @01:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @01:38AM (#444563)

    Assign permanent lifelong IPv6 addresses to people and we never have to worry about that pesky privacy problem ever again. Remember the immortal wisdom of your hero Marshall Brain. Nothing is private. Open source everything. Better and better. Hold still for your brain implant.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:45AM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:45AM (#444588) Journal

      permanent, lifeling IPv6 - or any other address - defeats the purpose. The communications can be traced back to you. Not your phone, not your office, not your home, but to YOU, personally.

      So the good Moslem Morality Police says, "Imam, we have this encrypted traffic going out. We don't know what it says. Should we try to crack it?" Imam answers, "No need - look at that IPv6 address, you should recognize it. Let's go visit Mohammed, and he'll tell us what it says. Bring that $5 wrench along."

      • (Score: 2) by Flyingmoose on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:59AM

        by Flyingmoose (4369) <mooseNO@SPAMflyingmoose.com> on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:59AM (#444595) Homepage

        Obviously your sarcasm detector is malfunctioning.

        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @05:42AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @05:42AM (#444633)

          > Obviously your sarcasm detector is malfunctioning.

          Islam is the easiest way to make him malfunction.
          Any discussion that involves muslims smashes his stack because his bounds-checking is non-existent.

      • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:59AM

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:59AM (#444596) Homepage

        I'm usually in agreement that Muslims are backwards savages, but Egypt's military overthrew Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood as a result of the two latter cracking down on protesters.
        Egypt is one more valuable American ally turned towards the Russians due to discontent with American foreign policy. I'm too lazy to look up the exact effect of the Arab Spring (aka American meddling Soros-style) on the transition of power between Hosni Murabak and Morsi, but the nature of the Islamic beast is that Westerners cannot understand it, they cannot reason with it, and so should destroy it instead of trying to tame it.

        It's like trying to tame a starving rabid dog and earn its trust -- it will bite everyone in its path, including its handlers.

      • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @08:41PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @08:41PM (#444833)

        Mohammed: Did you see Mohammed at the meeting today?
        Mohammed: No, but his brother Mohammed showed up.
        Mohammed: What did Mohammed talk about?
        Mohammed: Mohammed introduced us to Mohammed who is also a mason!
        Mohammed: A mason? No shit? How long has he been one?
        Mohammed: About five years. He was referred to the local lodge by Mohammed.
        Mohammed: Ah, yes, Mohammed. He has a shit ton of connections around town!
        Mohammed: Yes, and our brothers, police be upon them, Mohammed and Mohammed from Egypt came, too.
        Mohammed: I've been thinking of becoming a clown.
        Mohammed: A clown, Mohammed, why?
        Mohammed: So I can film myself being gay.
        Mohammed: Oh, you.
        Mohammed: So anyway, is Mohammed, Mohammed, and Mohammed coming to the next party?
        Mohammed: Indeed. Mohammed was so funny last time.
        Mohammed: Well it wouldn't be a party without Mohammed.
        Mohammed: Yes, my friend. POLICE BE UPON THEM!

  • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:58AM

    by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:58AM (#444594)

    Use a VOIP app for a number.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @05:44AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @05:44AM (#444634)

      > Use a VOIP app for a number.

      Try it before you recommend it.
      Hint, it won't work. The signal app knows the phone's telco assigned phone number.

      • (Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday December 22 2016, @04:07PM

        by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Thursday December 22 2016, @04:07PM (#444744)

        I hope you are wrong. My cell-phone does not have a SIM card, but I want to use signal.