19 — Merry Encryptsmas! Did an Israeli Firm Crack the Signal App?

Enemy of the [Surveillance] State

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Merry Encryptsmas! It’s that wonder time of the year when we get to spend more time with family and friends than any other time of the year. In this episode I address a couple of things. First, I address a subtle and very positive change to something about this podcast (notes below). Second, I address the ways you can use the extra time with family and friends to help spread the message of privacy and liberty. Third, I cover the newest battle in the war on encryption and how we — the People — are winning. Part of that deals with reports that Signal’s encrypted text app service was “broken” by an Israeli tech firm and Signal’s response.

Please read the important notes below. A special note from me about a change in the podcast is followed by links referenced in this episode.

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Enemy of the [Surveillance] State is written, produced, and narrated by C. Mitchell Shaw and is listener supported — No ads. No compromise. If you are interested in supporting the show, check out https://www.patreon.com/EnemyOfSurveillance — Anything you can do is greatly appreciated. It takes time, talent, and money to make a show like this. Please consider supporting.

On that note, I want to thank the most recent patron of the show, Kevin. This show would not be possible without the support of you, the listeners, and I appreciate it.

And as of this episode, I have made the decision to include affiliate links to some of the services and tools I recommend. These are not ads. These are things I have been recommending for some time now — some of those recommendations predate the show. The decision to begin including affiliate links is based on the simple fact that if I can increase the financial support of the show, I can devote more time to producing more and more quality episodes for you. I have heard from many of you that you have taken my recommendations and would have gladly used an an affiliate link, so I am making that option available to you.

My promise to you is to NEVER base my recommendations on whether or not I can offer an affiliate link; I will continue to base recommendations on the value of the service or tool, whether or not an affiliate program is available. Period. If you are interested in any of those recommendations and want to support the show in a small way, use the affiliate links I provide, If not, just search for the tool or service and go there directly. I will always make it clear if I include an affiliate link; My relationship to YOU, the listener is important to me — I will NEVER sacrifice that.

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Looking for either a great computer or phone that respects and protects your privacy? You will love Purism. I have had Todd Weaver from Purism on the show a couple times and he is the real deal. The company offers the Librem line of devices — from the Librem 14 and Librem 15 laptops to the Librem Mini desktop to the Librem 5 phone. If you use this link (affiliate link), Enemy of the [Surveillance State will make a small profit on your purchase. https://shop.puri.sm/?wpam_id=48

For encrypted texts, voice calls, and video calls, check out Signal (not an affiliate link) https://www.signal.org/

And for easy encrypted email, check out ProtonMail (not an affiliate link) https://protonmail.com

They also offer a great VPN and other services — including ProtonCalendar and ProtonDrive

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Links mentioned in this episode:

Bruce Springsteen Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76WFkKp8Tjs

BBC Article:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55412230

Celebrite original article:

https://web.archive.org/web/20201210150311/https://www.cellebrite.com/en/blog/cellebrites-new-solution-for-decrypting-the-signal-app/

Celebrite article redux:

https://www.cellebrite.com/en/blog/cellebrites-new-solution-for-decrypting-the-signal-app/

Signal’s response (by Moxie Marlinspike)

https://signal.org/blog/cellebrite-and-clickbait/

TOR Project:

https://www.torproject.org/

NewPipe Youtube client:

https://newpipe.net/

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If you enjoy or benefit from this podcast, be sure to subscribe and please consider supporting Enemy of the [Surveillance] State by becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/EnemyOfSurveillance, by using affiliate links for things you would have chosen anyway, or by picking up some cool merch at https://teespring.com/stores/eotss-merch

This show is a labor of love, but money helps keep it going and growing.

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The theme song was created by Michael Leavitt. If you want (or need) a piece of music that you own the rights to (for a wedding or anything else), check him out. He is the best and is a great guy, too. And he does not pay me to say that.

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