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Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.
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Many people know Signal as a free encrypted messaging app. But the eponymous organization behind the app also makes the underlying cryptographic protocol's libraries available for anyone to use. Companies, like WhatsApp, also use the protocol in their products. The hacking operation against Encrochat does not present any security issues for the Signal app or protocol itself.Encrochat took stock Android devices and loaded them with the company's own applications. The phones had a feature that would wipe the device's contents if the user entered a specific PIN, and also ran two operating systems side-by-side. One appeared innocuous and resembled a normal version of Android. The other contained the Encrochat messaging application. Like other companies in the encrypted phone space, Encrochat's devices could cost thousands of dollars for an annual subscription.Did you work for Encrochat? Do you have any more documents related to Encrochat arrests? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat on jfcox@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.
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