{"id":31931,"date":"2023-05-11T22:21:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T22:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T22:21:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T22:21:30","slug":"twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter launches encrypted DMs for verified users with security drawbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/<\/a><\/br>
\nTwitter launches encrypted DMs for verified users with security drawbacks<\/br>
\n2023-05-11 22:21:29<\/br><\/p>\n

\n

After talking about it for months<\/a>, Twitter has finally released<\/a> its first version of encrypted DMs \u2014 but there are a few limitations. Currently, this feature is only available to verified users (such as Blue subscribers) or accounts associated with verified organizations. Additionally, the encryption feature isn\u2019t compatible with group messages and Twitter doesn\u2019t offer protection against man-in-the-middle attacks.<\/p>\n

Twitter said that while encryption works across platforms, the recipient has to follow the sender to enable it. Alternatively, encryption can be enabled if a user has chatted with the sender before, or accepted their DM request. If users are eligible for an encrypted conversation, the sender will get an option to turn on encryption through a toggle on the new chat screen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Twitter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To turn on encryption for an existing conversation, you can tap on the information icon in the corner of the conversation screen and tap on the option that says \u201cStart an encrypted message.\u201d Encrypted conversations will look different from normal conversations, as Twitter places a lock badge on the recipient\u2019s profile picture. In the conversation itself, the company will show a \u201cMessages are encrypted\u201d banner at the top.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Twitter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The social network makes it clear in its blog post<\/a> that there are several limitations to this implementation. On the conversational level, Twitter just supports encryption for one-to-one messages with text and links. Twitter said that media is currently not supported in encrypted conversations.<\/p>\n

Additionally, people can\u2019t use a new device to join an existing encrypted conversation. So you either have to use the same device with which you initiated an encrypted conversation or start a new conversation when you get a new device. Users can only use 10 devices in total to use the encryption feature, and there is no way to deregister a device to make room for a new one.<\/p>\n

Notably, Twitter considers reinstalling the app as registering a new device. Twitter doesn\u2019t offer a key backup option, which means that all your encrypted messages on that device will be wiped out if you log out of the account.<\/p>\n

But the complex part is that Twitter doesn\u2019t delete private keys from the device on logout \u2014 only messages. Users will be able to fetch existing conversations if they log in again from the same device. The company cautioned that people shouldn\u2019t use the encryption feature on shared devices because of this limitation. This could change when Twitter starts offering a key backup option.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of doubts about the feature\u2019s security offering, too. It\u2019s not clear what cryptographic standard Twitter is using for this feature. The company just said it is deploying \u201ca combination of strong cryptographic schemes\u201d in its blog post<\/a> talking about the encryption feature.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

*Properly implemented* End to end encrypted messaging = good.<\/p>\n

But trustworthy & safe deployment = hard.<\/p>\n

Rolling your own crypto = recipe for trouble.<\/p>\n

Transparency is key.<\/p>\n

Many questions: did Twitter roll their own? Is this somebody else’s protocol? Has it been audited? pic.twitter.com\/kqUTpL038v<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) May 10, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Twitter said that its encryption feature also doesn\u2019t offer forward secrecy protection, so an attacker can access all of a user\u2019s past conversations if they get access to a compromised device. The company said it decided not to implement this feature to let users access their unencrypted DMs on any device.<\/p>\n

At the moment, Twitter doesn\u2019t offer signature checks or message verification features. So devices themselves can\u2019t check the authenticity of the message and people can\u2019t use methods like comparing number strings to verify encryption protection.<\/p>\n

This makes the system vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. That means an attacker can read your messages if the security is compromised. Twitter also hinted that it could give this conversation up to authorities as part of a legal process due to the current design flaws.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, if someone \u2014 for example, a malicious insider, or Twitter itself as a result of a compulsory legal process \u2014 were to compromise an encrypted conversation, neither the sender nor receiver would know,\u201d the company said. Twitter wants to add signature checks and safety numbers so that these attacks or requests are no longer possible.<\/p>\n

After taking over the company<\/a>, Elon Musk has expressed his desire to \u201csuperset Signal\u201d with Twitter DMs. However, with the current set of limitations, it doesn\u2019t offer the same level of protection that Signal or other apps offer. Both Signal and WhatsApp offer end-to-end encryption for all kinds of conversations. Additionally, Signal doesn\u2019t log any metadata about contacts or messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Elon Musk said, when it comes to Direct Messages, the standard should be, if someone puts a gun to our heads, we still can\u2019t access your messages. We\u2019re not quite there yet, but we\u2019re working on it,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

Science, Tech, Technology<\/br>
\n<\/br>
\nSource:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/ Twitter launches encrypted DMs for verified users with security drawbacks 2023-05-11 22:21:29 After talking about it for months, Twitter has finally released its first version of encrypted DMs \u2014 but there are a few limitations. Currently, this feature is only available to verified users (such as Blue subscribers) or accounts associated with verified organizations. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-tech","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nTwitter launches encrypted DMs for verified users with security drawbacks - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twitter launches encrypted DMs for verified users with security drawbacks - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/05\/11\/twitter-launches-encrypted-dms-for-verified-users-with-security-drawbacks\/ Twitter launches encrypted DMs for verified users with security drawbacks 2023-05-11 22:21:29 After talking about it for months, Twitter has finally released its first version of encrypted DMs \u2014 but there are a few limitations. 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