#deniability — Public Fediverse posts

“In most countries, 90% of online #search is conducted on #Google, which gives the company even more power to flip elections than it has in the US and, with internet penetration increasing rapidly worldwide, this power is growing. In our PNAS article, Robertson and I calculated that Google now has the power to flip upwards of 25% of the national #elections in the world with no one knowing this is occurring. In fact, we estimate that, with or without deliberate planning on the part of company executives, Google’s search rankings have been impacting elections for years, with growing impact each year. And because search rankings are ephemeral, they leave no paper trail, which gives the company complete #deniability.”

https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-internet-flips-elections-and-alters-our-thoughts

“In most countries, 90% of online #search is conducted on #Google, which gives the company even more power to flip elections than it has in the US and, with internet penetration increasing rapidly worldwide, this power is growing. In our PNAS article, Robertson and I calculated that Google now has the power to flip upwards of 25% of the national #elections in the world with no one knowing this is occurring. In fact, we estimate that, with or without deliberate planning on the part of company executives, Google’s search rankings have been impacting elections for years, with growing impact each year. And because search rankings are ephemeral, they leave no paper trail, which gives the company complete #deniability.”

https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-internet-flips-elections-and-alters-our-thoughts

The writing style was extremely similar and likely written by the same person

#plausible #deniability

@R3yScale @cwtch I would love if cwtch could replace simplex, fascist project maintainer and cwtch is more decentralised and censorship resistant

All it would take I think for me to say the switch is worth it would be quantum resistant encryption and new cryptographic identities in every chat (perhaps a different tor address for every new chat)

I also need to compare the deniability features - simplex has a nice hidden profile feature

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Anonymity #Cwtch #SimpleX #Tor #Deniability

@R3yScale @cwtch I would love if cwtch could replace simplex, fascist project maintainer and cwtch is more decentralised and censorship resistant

All it would take I think for me to say the switch is worth it would be quantum resistant encryption and new cryptographic identities in every chat (perhaps a different tor address for every new chat)

I also need to compare the deniability features - simplex has a nice hidden profile feature

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Anonymity #Cwtch #SimpleX #Tor #Deniability

PrivateBin

Current version: 2.0.3

Anyone on the FediVerse running PrivateBin on their own (small) network?

• PrivateBin
• minimalist
• Open Source
• online pastebin
• server has zero knowledge of stored data

Data is encrypted & decrypted in your browser with 256bit AES in Galois Counter mode.

• PrivateBin is a fork of ZeroBin originally developed by Sébastien Sauvage
• PrivateBin was refactored to allow easier & cleaner extensions
• it has many additional features.

https://privatebin.info/

#encryption #programming #PrivateBin #Zero #Knowledge #plausable #deniability #networking #AES256 #Galois #Counter #technology

PrivateBin

Current version: 2.0.3

Anyone on the FediVerse running PrivateBin on their own (small) network?

• PrivateBin
• minimalist
• Open Source
• online pastebin
• server has zero knowledge of stored data

Data is encrypted & decrypted in your browser with 256bit AES in Galois Counter mode.

• PrivateBin is a fork of ZeroBin originally developed by Sébastien Sauvage
• PrivateBin was refactored to allow easier & cleaner extensions
• it has many additional features.

https://privatebin.info/

#encryption #programming #PrivateBin #Zero #Knowledge #plausable #deniability #networking #AES256 #Galois #Counter #technology

@kkarhan Yes I was aware of that one. That's where deniability comes in: on the official SimpleX client there is a hidden profile feature: to display hidden profile you type in a password you set previously but you type it into the chat search bar so there is no indication in the GUI that you have any hidden profile. I think each hidden profile can have their own associated password so you can type in a password and say there you go thats all my hidden profiles when actually there are more

#FLOSS #PSA #Privacy #Anonymity #Simplex #Deniability

@kkarhan Yes I was aware of that one. That's where deniability comes in: on the official SimpleX client there is a hidden profile feature: to display hidden profile you type in a password you set previously but you type it into the chat search bar so there is no indication in the GUI that you have any hidden profile. I think each hidden profile can have their own associated password so you can type in a password and say there you go thats all my hidden profiles when actually there are more

#FLOSS #PSA #Privacy #Anonymity #Simplex #Deniability

I like how people are recommending a bunch of FLOSS messengers now, its an opportunity to check out underrated projects like I just a few minutes ago learned about the FLOSS project Quiet (https://tryquiet.org) from a discord community trying to relocate.

The website says its all E2EE P2P with tor built in, channels like slack/discord, no email or phone number required. Unfortunately no quantum resistant encryption on the roadmap so I still would recommend SimpleX for general purpose instant messaging but Tor-by-default and P2P are genuine advantages over Simplex

If you found this post interesting you might also be interested in these decentralised encrypted messengers with various pros and cons compared to eachother:

Cwtch
https://cwtch.im
http://cwtchim3z2gdsyb27acfc26lup5aqbegjrjsqulzrnkuoalq5h4gmcid.onion/

Briar
https://briarproject.org/

Meshtastic
https://meshtastic.org/

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Security #Anonymity #Deniability #Meshtastic #Briar #Cwtch #SimpleX #Quiet #P2P #Tor #Slack #Discord

I like how people are recommending a bunch of FLOSS messengers now, its an opportunity to check out underrated projects like I just a few minutes ago learned about the FLOSS project Quiet (https://tryquiet.org) from a discord community trying to relocate.

The website says its all E2EE P2P with tor built in, channels like slack/discord, no email or phone number required. Unfortunately no quantum resistant encryption on the roadmap so I still would recommend SimpleX for general purpose instant messaging but Tor-by-default and P2P are genuine advantages over Simplex

If you found this post interesting you might also be interested in these decentralised encrypted messengers with various pros and cons compared to eachother:

Cwtch
https://cwtch.im
http://cwtchim3z2gdsyb27acfc26lup5aqbegjrjsqulzrnkuoalq5h4gmcid.onion/

Briar
https://briarproject.org/

Meshtastic
https://meshtastic.org/

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Security #Anonymity #Deniability #Meshtastic #Briar #Cwtch #SimpleX #Quiet #P2P #Tor #Slack #Discord

@thejessiekirk

You're probably going to find a lot of suggestions, heres two comparison tables for E2EE instant messengers:

•https://eylenburg.github.io/im_comparison.htm

•https://www.messenger-matrix.de/messenger-matrix-en.html

even if its not got all the same features as discord, instant messaging is a part of discord and I guess it could be something you're thinking about

Edit forgot to mention: for reasons you can find on these tables and that I can elaborate on if you want I suggest simplex for private anonymous deniable and censorship resistant chats

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Security #Anonymity #Deniability #Discord #SimpleX

@thejessiekirk

You're probably going to find a lot of suggestions, heres two comparison tables for E2EE instant messengers:

•https://eylenburg.github.io/im_comparison.htm

•https://www.messenger-matrix.de/messenger-matrix-en.html

even if its not got all the same features as discord, instant messaging is a part of discord and I guess it could be something you're thinking about

Edit forgot to mention: for reasons you can find on these tables and that I can elaborate on if you want I suggest simplex for private anonymous deniable and censorship resistant chats

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Security #Anonymity #Deniability #Discord #SimpleX

@torf

I just confirmed the official simplex client has a hidden profile feature, right click a profile from the profile selection to bring up a hide profile option, you can then give it a password (i think each profile can be given a different password) and then to reveal it you type the full password into the profile search box

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Deniability #Security #SimpleX

@torf

I just confirmed the official simplex client has a hidden profile feature, right click a profile from the profile selection to bring up a hide profile option, you can then give it a password (i think each profile can be given a different password) and then to reveal it you type the full password into the profile search box

#FLOSS #E2EE #PSA #Privacy #Deniability #Security #SimpleX

@kkarhan I was just pointed at this:

https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=unstable&query=Shufflecake

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3576915.3623126

#FDE #FullDiskEncryption #Deniability #PlausibleDeniability #Shufflecake

@kkarhan I was just pointed at this:

https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=unstable&query=Shufflecake

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3576915.3623126

#FDE #FullDiskEncryption #Deniability #PlausibleDeniability #Shufflecake

Shufflecake: plausible deniability for multiple hidden filesystems …

<https://shufflecake.net/>

<https://codeberg.org/shufflecake/shufflecake-c/issues/164> pleads for consideration of a port to BSD

– via <https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1q2i8bg/shufflecake_plausible_deniability_port/>.

@shufflecake @tomgag #BSD #FreeBSD #plausible #deniability #Linux

Shufflecake: plausible deniability for multiple hidden filesystems …

<https://shufflecake.net/>

<https://codeberg.org/shufflecake/shufflecake-c/issues/164> pleads for consideration of a port to BSD

– via <https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1q2i8bg/shufflecake_plausible_deniability_port/>.

@shufflecake @tomgag #BSD #FreeBSD #plausible #deniability #Linux

This was a system, not a series of colourful adventurers:
• Western governments wanted influence without accountability
• Corporations wanted access without scrutiny
• #Mercenaries provided #violence with plausible #deniability 7)

This was a system, not a series of colourful adventurers:
• Western governments wanted influence without accountability
• Corporations wanted access without scrutiny
• #Mercenaries provided #violence with plausible #deniability 7)

I left the setting #do_a_good_thing_every_day
#many_happy_faces
Also it's good for #opsec #deniability

I left the setting #do_a_good_thing_every_day
#many_happy_faces
Also it's good for #opsec #deniability

i once wondered ignorant things like, how can they so easily dismiss the painful results of their signatures? how can they smile and wave to survivors of their enforcements with teeth and hands still dripping in the blood? how can they rest?

sadly, i now fully understand the sinister nature of their disconnect via distance and #deniability. All ever they "see" is pen and ink, and colour themselves pure.

...sit them in a hall of viceral evidence of their "works", and they blame the trigger...

i once wondered ignorant things like, how can they so easily dismiss the painful results of their signatures? how can they smile and wave to survivors of their enforcements with teeth and hands still dripping in the blood? how can they rest?

sadly, i now fully understand the sinister nature of their disconnect via distance and #deniability. All ever they "see" is pen and ink, and colour themselves pure.

...sit them in a hall of viceral evidence of their "works", and they blame the trigger...

'#Fascism on Full Display' at #Trump's #MadisonSquareGarden #Rally

"No #dogwhistles, no #plausible #deniability," wrote one #historian. "It's a #show of #power and an another attempt to make this look and feel #normal."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-madison-square-garden

'#Fascism on Full Display' at #Trump's #MadisonSquareGarden #Rally

"No #dogwhistles, no #plausible #deniability," wrote one #historian. "It's a #show of #power and an another attempt to make this look and feel #normal."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-madison-square-garden

@StarkRG @actuallyautistic

Allistic communication relies on #implication, and reading/writing 'between the lines', thereby retaining #deniability!

Yes, it would be *so* good if they could learn to #communicate #honestly, as we (mostly) do. 👍

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AllAutistics
#AuDHD

You don’t need to guess if Donald Trump wants to be a dictator!

Forget anything he’s ever said;

He got several people killed, TRYING TO MAKE HIMSELF A DICTATOR.

And then, using plausible deniability generated from soulless and power-hungry allies,

he got the Supreme Court, which he personally packed, to give him effective immunity for the crime of trying to end American democracy.

The time to take Donald Trump seriously has long passed;

He is a threat to everything you love.

He wears makeup and a wig like a clown, but the clownishness itself is part of the plausible deniability.

Even his fiercest critics feed that power by assuming there must be some harmless explanation for his laser focus on dividing and conquering America.

There’s not.

#dog #whistle #politics #story #base #plausible #deniability

You don’t need to guess if Donald Trump wants to be a dictator!

Forget anything he’s ever said;

He got several people killed, TRYING TO MAKE HIMSELF A DICTATOR.

And then, using plausible deniability generated from soulless and power-hungry allies,

he got the Supreme Court, which he personally packed, to give him effective immunity for the crime of trying to end American democracy.

The time to take Donald Trump seriously has long passed;

He is a threat to everything you love.

He wears makeup and a wig like a clown, but the clownishness itself is part of the plausible deniability.

Even his fiercest critics feed that power by assuming there must be some harmless explanation for his laser focus on dividing and conquering America.

There’s not.

#dog #whistle #politics #story #base #plausible #deniability

Trump has a superpower that almost no one talks about --
which makes it even more powerful.

Someone who does talk about it is Ian Haney López, who wrote the book "Dog Whistle Politics"

where I learned about this strategy that has propelled Republicans into generations of political success.

It’s called
🔸plausible deniability,🔸which I think most people think of or discuss as 🔹“normalization.”🔹

It’s the cloaking mechanism that makes all of Trump’s strategic division work,
including the birther’s one real innovation in dog-whistling:
the “triple move” that Haney López calls ♦️“racist theater.”♦️

Here’s what Haney López told me recently:

So #dog #whistle #politics in the sixties, seventies, eighties, it was also regarded as morally suspect as tainted as cynical.

And so a lot of the strategy behind dog whistling politicians
--I think about Ronald Reagan talking about welfare queens and whatnot
--part of the strategy was to 🔸pretend that they weren't doing that at all 🔸
and to really🔹 push back against the press or any sort of suggestion that they were. 🔹

But that has shifted under Trump.

What Trump understands is that
👉if he can provoke the press, provoke the Democrats into calling him a racist,
👉that actually helps him because 🔸he is telling a #story to his #base in which they are not racist, 🔸
🔹they are acting out of high principle, 🔹
they're trying to defend country and community and family.

But one of the core claims that's being made on the right is that demands for racial justice
demands for integration
demands for affirmative action
demands for diversity, equity, inclusion,
that those aren't actually animated by a sense of justice,
but rather they're motivated by a sense of revenge and a sense of hatred of white people.

And in this telling the right is constantly saying to white voters,
"People are racist against you.
They blame you for things that you weren't responsible for.
And they also think that you're racist just because you're white and that's racism against you."

In that context, 💥Trump and J. D. Vance understand that there's this kind of complicated triple move that they can make. 💥

♦️They can say something outrageous:
“It's an invasion. They're poisoning the blood of the country.”
That's move number one.

♦️Move number two, wait for people on the left to say,
"Hey, invasion and caravan and blood of the nation. That's racist language.”

And then they respond to that by saying, “I never mentioned race. I was just talking about immigrants.
I was just talking about protecting our country and securing our border.”

That's move number two.
“I didn't, no racism here, nothing to see here.”

♦️And then comes move number three.
Then they go on to say,
“But, hey, wait a minute. You just accused me of racism.
And that's the real racism.
You're racist against me by thinking that I'm a racist, even though I'm just trying to protect the borders.

And you're not only racist against me, you're racist against all my supporters.”

So when this happens:

“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” he said at The Believers’ Summit,
an event hosted by the conservative advocacy group "Turning Point Action", in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

It triggers what we now have to call 💥“Fascist Theater” 💥in which the ⭐️#plausible #deniability that’s gained from Trump’s constant blather, digressions, and weirdness serves him.⭐️

https://i-know-how-much-you-care.ghost.io/trumps-superpower-is-plausible-deniability/

Trump has a superpower that almost no one talks about --
which makes it even more powerful.

Someone who does talk about it is Ian Haney López, who wrote the book "Dog Whistle Politics"

where I learned about this strategy that has propelled Republicans into generations of political success.

It’s called
🔸plausible deniability,🔸which I think most people think of or discuss as 🔹“normalization.”🔹

It’s the cloaking mechanism that makes all of Trump’s strategic division work,
including the birther’s one real innovation in dog-whistling:
the “triple move” that Haney López calls ♦️“racist theater.”♦️

Here’s what Haney López told me recently:

So #dog #whistle #politics in the sixties, seventies, eighties, it was also regarded as morally suspect as tainted as cynical.

And so a lot of the strategy behind dog whistling politicians
--I think about Ronald Reagan talking about welfare queens and whatnot
--part of the strategy was to 🔸pretend that they weren't doing that at all 🔸
and to really🔹 push back against the press or any sort of suggestion that they were. 🔹

But that has shifted under Trump.

What Trump understands is that
👉if he can provoke the press, provoke the Democrats into calling him a racist,
👉that actually helps him because 🔸he is telling a #story to his #base in which they are not racist, 🔸
🔹they are acting out of high principle, 🔹
they're trying to defend country and community and family.

But one of the core claims that's being made on the right is that demands for racial justice
demands for integration
demands for affirmative action
demands for diversity, equity, inclusion,
that those aren't actually animated by a sense of justice,
but rather they're motivated by a sense of revenge and a sense of hatred of white people.

And in this telling the right is constantly saying to white voters,
"People are racist against you.
They blame you for things that you weren't responsible for.
And they also think that you're racist just because you're white and that's racism against you."

In that context, 💥Trump and J. D. Vance understand that there's this kind of complicated triple move that they can make. 💥

♦️They can say something outrageous:
“It's an invasion. They're poisoning the blood of the country.”
That's move number one.

♦️Move number two, wait for people on the left to say,
"Hey, invasion and caravan and blood of the nation. That's racist language.”

And then they respond to that by saying, “I never mentioned race. I was just talking about immigrants.
I was just talking about protecting our country and securing our border.”

That's move number two.
“I didn't, no racism here, nothing to see here.”

♦️And then comes move number three.
Then they go on to say,
“But, hey, wait a minute. You just accused me of racism.
And that's the real racism.
You're racist against me by thinking that I'm a racist, even though I'm just trying to protect the borders.

And you're not only racist against me, you're racist against all my supporters.”

So when this happens:

“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” he said at The Believers’ Summit,
an event hosted by the conservative advocacy group "Turning Point Action", in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

It triggers what we now have to call 💥“Fascist Theater” 💥in which the ⭐️#plausible #deniability that’s gained from Trump’s constant blather, digressions, and weirdness serves him.⭐️

https://i-know-how-much-you-care.ghost.io/trumps-superpower-is-plausible-deniability/

What is your opinion on deniability in the context of instant messaging?

(Please boost this poll for more representative results!)

Deniability (or “plausible deniability”) means that no party in an interaction receives a transcript that can be used as cryptographic proof said interaction happened or what the content was. In order to achieve this, deniable protocols are designed in ways that allow the creation of fake transcripts that are indistinguishable from real ones.

Importantly (and maybe unintuitively) this does not mean that the interaction has to sacrifice authenticity (the certainty for the involved parties to know that they are talking to whom the think they are talking to and that the content of any messages arrives unaltered compared to what was sent)!

#Cryptography #Deniability #PlausibleDeniability #Privacy

Western governments struggle to coordinate response to Chinese hacking

#Chinese #hacking attempts are not isolated events. Rather, they constitute the #ecosystem in which all western governments must navigate their relationships with Beijing.

In a report published on 27 March, Google said China “continues to lead the way for government-backed exploitation”.
#APT31 alone has been linked to hacks in France, Finland and of Microsoft, while New Zealand said this week that another well-known Chinese hacking outfit, #APT40, attacked its parliament in 2021 (the Chinese embassy in New Zealand denied the allegations).

A recent leak of data from the Chinese cybersecurity firm #iSoon revealed the extent to which China’s hackers for hire compete for government contracts,
sometimes hoovering up data from foreign agencies "on spec" with the hope of selling it to the highest bidder.
In the case of APT31, the US Department of Justice alleges that the hacking operation was💥 directly run by a provincial department of China’s ministry of state security.💥
But in general, said Mei #Danowski, a China cybersecurity expert and author of the "Natto Thoughts" newsletter,
🔸nearly every cybersecurity firm in China 🔸would have some sort of contract with government clients.
With a cybersecurity industry worth an estimated $13bn, that is a lot of potential hackers.

That leaves western governments struggling to coordinate an effective response to hacks or hacking attempts.
In many cases, the Chinese government has #plausible #deniability about responsibility, and it is not always clear what the impact of data breaches are.
Audrye #Wong, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, said that while #Russian-based hacks oftene “sow discord and chaos”, #China was “more cautious” and “still very much cares about shaping perceptions of China and the Chinese Communist party”.

Many western international security experts refer to the maxim that while Russia may be the storm, China is climate change.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/29/western-governments-struggle-coordinate-response-chinese-hacking?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Western governments struggle to coordinate response to Chinese hacking

#Chinese #hacking attempts are not isolated events. Rather, they constitute the #ecosystem in which all western governments must navigate their relationships with Beijing.

In a report published on 27 March, Google said China “continues to lead the way for government-backed exploitation”.
#APT31 alone has been linked to hacks in France, Finland and of Microsoft, while New Zealand said this week that another well-known Chinese hacking outfit, #APT40, attacked its parliament in 2021 (the Chinese embassy in New Zealand denied the allegations).

A recent leak of data from the Chinese cybersecurity firm #iSoon revealed the extent to which China’s hackers for hire compete for government contracts,
sometimes hoovering up data from foreign agencies "on spec" with the hope of selling it to the highest bidder.
In the case of APT31, the US Department of Justice alleges that the hacking operation was💥 directly run by a provincial department of China’s ministry of state security.💥
But in general, said Mei #Danowski, a China cybersecurity expert and author of the "Natto Thoughts" newsletter,
🔸nearly every cybersecurity firm in China 🔸would have some sort of contract with government clients.
With a cybersecurity industry worth an estimated $13bn, that is a lot of potential hackers.

That leaves western governments struggling to coordinate an effective response to hacks or hacking attempts.
In many cases, the Chinese government has #plausible #deniability about responsibility, and it is not always clear what the impact of data breaches are.
Audrye #Wong, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, said that while #Russian-based hacks oftene “sow discord and chaos”, #China was “more cautious” and “still very much cares about shaping perceptions of China and the Chinese Communist party”.

Many western international security experts refer to the maxim that while Russia may be the storm, China is climate change.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/29/western-governments-struggle-coordinate-response-chinese-hacking?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

❄️ Artist: #DavidZinn in City: #AnnArbor USA 🇺🇸 2023 - Title:
🔴 "Rufus is deeply concerned to
hear that you've lost another
ball." 🎾
🟡 "Rufus ist zutiefst besorgt, als
er hört, dass du wieder einen
Ball verloren hast." ⚾🥎
#StreetArt #Art #Chalkart #Dog #TennisBall #Hoarder #Implausible #Deniability #Weekend !🥳

❄️ Artist: #DavidZinn in City: #AnnArbor USA 🇺🇸 2023 - Title:
🔴 "Rufus is deeply concerned to
hear that you've lost another
ball." 🎾
🟡 "Rufus ist zutiefst besorgt, als
er hört, dass du wieder einen
Ball verloren hast." ⚾🥎
#StreetArt #Art #Chalkart #Dog #TennisBall #Hoarder #Implausible #Deniability #Weekend !🥳

@w7voa

If you are French this person in Canadian. If you are Canadian this person is French.

#dualcitizenship #deniability

Bunnie Huang’s Plausibly Deniable Database https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2022/02/bunnie-huangs-plausibly-deniable-database.html #academicpapers #Uncategorized #cryptanalysis #threatmodels #deniability #databases #metadata