In a dangerous era for journalism – a powerful new tool to help protect sources
www.theguardian.com
Today, the Guardian, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, launches Secure Messaging, a world-first from a media organisation
  • irotsoma@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    14·
    11 hours ago

    This is a significantly different use case than a secure chat application that most in these comments are discussing. This system is more interesting for the obfuscation of the data, not the secure communication itself which is just x25519 public key encrypted messages. It’s the fact that intercepting the relevant messages from actual whistleblowers and informants is made very difficult. It’s not a chat application.

    • Mac@mander.xyzEnglish
      221·
      17 hours ago

      TL;DR

      -There are 15 competing standards-
      “I’m tired of this shit! I’m going to make a single, universal standard!”
      -There are 16 competing standards-

    • Deebster@infosec.pubEnglish
      15·
      12 hours ago

      That was my first thought, but it’s actually a library for newsreader-type apps that lets a communication happen without exposing the whistleblower (it’s like a digital deaddrop - just a tiny change in everyday routines).

      I had a quick look and they’re doing the things they need to like certificate pinning, so even corporate-level MITM wouldn’t be seeing any unusual traffic. I assume they’re also blocking access to the screen like banking apps do, which is more secure but annoying for normal users.

        • Deebster@infosec.pubEnglish
          1·
          4 hours ago

          It’s more about things similar to Microsoft Recall, I don’t think whistleblowers are going to send their messages where other people can see their screen.

  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
    17·
    18 hours ago

    People have pointed out other secure, open-source messaging apps, but this is still pretty damn cool.

    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      17 hours ago

      This is an excellent idea. This should be taken further though to protect readers too, in the age of surveillance capitalist fascism.

      … As in a universal FOSS app for “news” where you can subscribe to both orgs and journalists (replacing substack), with zero tracking and zero knowledge subscriptions/donations, allowing users to subscribe/donate without any org or gov knowing which individuals are subscribed to which services, reading what content, communicating with which journalists, etc.