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Russia orders state-backed Max messenger app to be pre-installed on new phones (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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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.

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago (8 children)

Has there been any evidence of that? Intercepting the traffic or disassembling the app would show some signs if true.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Yeah dude, tons. Look at Citizen Lab's work. They did an very detailed exposé with Amnesty International too

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (5 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

    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?

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    SimpleX is probably best. Wire is much more practical for day to day, but the metadata in Wire might literally get you killed.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Going by your logic though, what would stop a Five Eyes country like the UK from pressuring the developer of SimpleX into creating a backdoor? Besides, as discussed, even if it were bulletproof, it's improbable that the victim would have no other apps on their device, one of which could be exploited by the likes of NSO Group. The creators of Android and iOS are also obviously US-based, so your point would have to apply to them as well. From there, if someone remotely gains full access to the device, it won't matter if you use Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, SimpleX, or that new Russian thing. However, having e2ee is still better than nothing in that it protects from other attack vectors, like the ISP analyzing the traffic and reporting to the government.

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